Breaking a few eggs (blog 18)

The actors and I are straight into singing together as we listen to the radio loud on the way back from the airport to the apartment. Turns out George has a great voice and is the front man for his Band, TESSA JONES, and he and Emma are both active fanatics of musicals a-z. We get back to the apartments and show the actors where they are staying, introduce them to he crew, leave them and allow them to get settled in, as Alan and I drive to the set to get, Daithi and Kev who were still knee deep on their design undertaking for the interior of the house which has come on leaps and bounds, but still with a lot to do, and even as I write this, April 28th 5.56 a.m. Daithi is still working everyday and is under pressure. That ticking sound in the van was still flittering away until finally as we were actually heading up hill to the entrance for the house, the van completely died, as Alan exclaimed, “she’s gone!!, on my life.” And held out his hands as the lights on the dash board lit up to announce its demise, and we literally free wheeled up a hill for 30 yards and around the corner, and in the front gate. Both of us looked to one another and started laughing at such a close call, that could have been the actors first impression, all of us sitting pretty vacant on the road from the airport to Tralee. Not good. But that is the kind of luck we have had from day one, just making it as we leap frog across the pond over the heads of dozzy alligators.

Nonetheless the van was gunned back to life and we drove in to pick up the laughing cavaliers, and got back to Ballyheigue with Kev holding a fire extinguisher in the back seat in case the engine caught fire, it stalled about 10 times on the way home, free wheeling for about 100 yards, then kicked in again, but got us to home where a quick turn around was arranged, as Alan busted off in his Merc for his house and a super fast change of clothes, and Ivan Godley my cousin agreed over the phone at 20.25 to drive us back into Tralee for our inaugural dinner at Gio's THE ALLEGRO restaurant in Tralee, for 21.00, SORTED. Daniel, Daithi, Kev, Sam and I loitered anxiously outside our house and kicked some dirt. Eventually the green bus swung us in and we picked up Alan and the gorgeous Joanne all sparkling and ready for a night on the tiles. I jumped from the bus still moving near the apartments where the actors were waiting, as we were late, the other’s headed straight to the restaurant where I ferried in the actors to a great commotion and rattle bang boom through the night to Jess MacCarthy’s great pub where we had the entire back area to ourselves, Kevin Hannifan in his ever generous fashion insisting on buying the whooping big rounds, as pints of Guinness filled the air, and laughter rose to a persistent din.

After this and more yada yada yada and rocking good stories we were all coming to know one another pretty fast which is exactly what I had intended as I wanted to inject a BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS energy from the get go. Emma Griffiths Malin and I had been on this level from day one over the phone as we would weave into conversations about mysticism and magic and so on and so forth, then just generally take the piss in a warm and utterly frank fashion. This was how I projected myself to all the actors over the phone, as a thunder and lighting sort of say it mean it Producer. But regardless of this turbo charge all of their personalities are equally high energy and emotionally honest and fun loving, we all immediately bonded and that has been a sustaining energy through rather a few difficult and touch and go moments on the journey so far.

The pub was buzzing as so was I as I had not had pints for a while and the jack was out of the box, plenty of interest and friendly enquiries from the regulars as to what all the fuss was, people coming over and chatting and wishing us luck. Another pillar of pints set down to litter the tables. Slug Slug, out for a fag, in and out and in and out. We then hit a late night hotel setting where cheese ball super suck music was whaling and we hitched to the bar, I grabbed Emma and took her for a jive much to the intrigue of the onlookers, and as she is such a force of course she wanted to lead, but I wasn't having it, so then in a nano-second she relented completely and was gone from my hands which had been hoisting against her lead role energy and now she was a cracked egg on the dance floor having hit it like a brick, this was fucking funny, and so I picked her up and mixed her back into the night. And in time the revelers started to disintegrate, Alan, Joanne, Daithi, Daniel, Samantha and I eventually grabbed a taxi about 4 O'Clock after a night of jaw slamming.