It all began in 1982, when the then Kilmacud Musical & Dramatical Society put on the classic John B. Keane play, Big Maggie. In 1988, we decided to focus all our efforts on musicals and since then have staged many of the best known and loved musicals available. These included; My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Oklahoma and Fiddler on the Roof. In our 2001 production of Guys & Dolls, Marijka Walsh won the AIMS Award for Best Comedienne (playing Adelaide).
2009 saw a change in style for the Society with the production of the modern classic, The Hot Mikado; a re-imagining of the great Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. This scooped the AIMS Award for ‘Best Visual Production’ that year. The following year (2010), we put on a spectacular production of Calamity Jane, which enjoyed a ‘sold out’ run. Later that year, KMS returned to the annual National Choral Festival in New Ross, where we won the coveted award for Best Musical Cameo, with our rendition of The Black Hills of Dakota.
In 2011, KMS celebrated its thirtieth anniversary by staging a special variety show, entitled An Evening with KMS, in The Stillorgan Park Hotel. Such was its success, we have staged a variety show every year since then! That same year we moved from our beloved ‘home’ venue, St. Benildus College in Kilmacud, to The Mill Theatre in Dundrum where we performed our second production of Oklahoma. It was a real thrill for the cast to see the ‘sold out’ poster outside such an acclaimed venue!
KMS saw further success in 2012, with a ‘sold out’ run of the classic musical, Fiddler on The Roof. Fiddler was nominated for three awards at the annual AIMS Awards. We were all thrilled to win the award for Best Chorus! Eamonn Murphy was a runner up for the Best Actor Award, for his portrayal of Tevye, and David ‘Doc’ O’Connor was runner up for the Best Musical Director Award.
The 2013/14 we staged the challenging but truly wonderful, Showboat. It was no surprise that such a classic show, with its unforgettable music, also enjoyed a ‘sold out’ run. This was followed by another win at the New Ross Choral Festival, in the “Andrew Lloyd Webber Music” category.
Since then we’ve gone from strength to strength with our own Marion Holohan being nominated for Best Commedienne for her role as Felcia Gabrial in the develish comedy The Witches of Eastwick in 2015. While 2015/16 had us take to the stage with a very successful variety show It’s Showtime and the much loved musical Singin’ In The Rain, for which Sarah Lawlor was nominated in the Best Female Singer AIMS category.
In 2018 we celebrated 35 years with Our productions of the classic musical Funny Girl and The Greatest Show; a celebration of the magic of musicals written and directed by our very own Jackie Drew.
We look forward to seeing you all again next season for our next wonderful KMS productions!
Kilmacud Musical Society 