Friday night Late and Live in Limerick

Limerick has a new theatre space, The Lime Tree, located on the Mary Immaculate College campus on the outskirts of the city. I caught the second act of  the Cecilian Musical Society's   of West Side Story at the venue on Friday night.  On first impressions, the venue seems relatively narrow with quite a steep rake in two tiers. I was a teeny bit disappointed that the generous comfy upholstery was in fact  tangerine and not green  with blue wooden paneled walls enclosing the space. I loved the high seat backs.

Sitting at the back I can report that the view was good and the sound was remarkably good. The amplification was very subtle and all voices and musical timbres could be heard perfectly. The pit band under MD Noel Lennon made a nice tableau glimpsed from top of the house . 

The audience lingered a while in the  foyer to greet the performers. Like UCH I feel the venue falls down in creating a convivial apres show atmosphere.  Refreshments are not available and it is a bit of a trot to the nearest hostelry. While the venue is a very comfortable one for performers and audience alike, I wonder what the impact of the space will have on the activity in other spaces in the city and if there is quite enough 'product' to  fill theatre spaces at UCH, LIT and indeed at the Belltable Arts Centre in the city centre. 

Following the show I called in to Dolan's on Dock Road. I enjoyed the last half hour of  singer songwriter, Mark Geary's set upstairs at Dolan's on Dock Road. Geary is not a performer I have heard of  but he was very easy to listen to and had a relaxed easy rapport with  the  audience of 30 plus patrons   He was supported by singer Grainne Hunt and pianist Mark Kenny. There was a turn from Keith Kelly on harmonica.  Perfect late night fare