Opera House hosts family shows

WITH school children off for mid-term and the weather likely to be showery, the Opera House is hoping parents will avail of a programme of family shows.

Remember Frank McNamara and his piano playing? Well his four children are now the Irish Von Trapps and the four of them, aged 9-14, will be putting on an interactive music show at the Opera House tomorrow night.

Tickets are €21 but family tickets cost just €50. Well-known tunes will be hidden in classical pieces for the audience to guess. And, Frank will attempt to beat the world speed record for playing The Flight of The Bumble Bee on piano, timed on stage by a member of the audience.

Frankie and Quincy McNamara will play guitar, piano and sing songs including I’m Yours, Jason Mraz, and an interpretation of a piece from Muse.

Meanwhile, JJ who was on the Late Late Show with his father in February, is a child prodigy pianist.

The baby of the family, Charlotte, sings Castles in the Clouds from Les Mis. At age 9, she is already a gold medal winner at the prestigious Sutton Park Music Festival for her vocal performance, and an accomplished violinist.

The two-hour show begins at 8pm.

A 45-minute puppet show version of Eric Carle’s well-known Very Hungry Caterpillar tale will be held at the Opera House on Wednesday at 11am and 2pm.

It follows the wonderful adventures of a tiny and hungry caterpillar that progresses through an amazing variety of foods towards his eventual metamorphosis into a butterfly.

This Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia production has enchanted audiences around the world, received high praise from Eric Carle himself .