Galway musical society back to its roots in survival bid

The oldest running musical society in the West of Ireland has reached crisis point, the worst in its 63-year history, according to its newly elected president.

Now, the Galway Patrician Musical Society is returning to its old style musical roots in a bid to stave off financial ruin which is threatening its survival.

“It’s certainly the most serious situation we have found ourselves in. We were worse off before but it was easier to get money to get out of it, you didn’t have this doom and gloom across the whole country,” said the Society’s new president Michael Parslow.

“We’ve lost a lot of sponsorship from businesses that have simply closed down. Other businesses are finding it difficult to even give us €50 in these times.”

The company has recorded losses for the last two years and has had to secure an overdraft to meet its expenses.

Michael said the society will revert to its original musical genre in order to attract back its traditional following.

“I think some of the productions in the last two or three years were not PMS shows – this year we had The Producers, last year it was Guys and Dolls, it’s for a different audience I think. And then you have the Galway Musical Society doing Evita, which is traditionally more of a PMS show,” he explained.

Its big production next year will be West Side Story, which should please lovers of the good old fashioned musical.

“We just have to go back to basics I believe. The old style musical, that’s our genre really – Annie Get Your Gun, Oaklahoma, South Pacific, Mikado. That’s what we’re good at.”

“The Society has been part of Galway for the past 63 years, it is now part of the fabric of the arts in Galway. No one would like to see the demise of this Galway institution and we will fight all the way for its financial recovery. We cannot do it alone and I would appeal to all businesses in Galway to come on board and help us out.

“Everyone has a part to play and we will not refuse any donation and will acknowledge all.”

Read more in this week’s Connacht Sentinel