The Society was thrilled to hear that the winner of the AIMS Best Musical Director award in the Sullivan section for 2019 was our own musical director, Shane Farrell, for his work on our recent production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The announcement was made during the annual AIMS Awards Weekend, the climax of which is the AIMS Awards Banquet, held on Saturday night last in the INEC in Killarney. With over 1,200 people from all over the country in attendance, the Society was well represented at the banquet, with a contingent of approximately 15 people, who were involved in various aspects of the production, travelling to Killarney over the weekend.
The award is well-earned recognition for Shane and the standard of his work on Jesus Christ Superstar. Shane is no stranger to the Society, having been involved with us for every show since All Shook Up in 2012. Over the past 8 years, Shane has been a source of great support and encouragement for the Society and he has even given his time to work on concerts and other fundraisers for the Society, and we were delighted to see him rewarded for his efforts. Of course, this is not Shane's first time to win this award - Shane has now won this particular award for three years in a row, having previously won the award for Bravo Theatre Group's productions of both Sweeney Todd in 2017 and Ragtime in 2018.
The Society also collected a runner-up trophy for the Spirit of AIMS/Adjudicator's Special Award for "The atmospheric scene when Jesus is begged to heal the sick" in Jesus Christ Superstar. The Society was represented on-stage by our Chairperson, Julie Mannion.
The Society would like to congratulate our friends in other societies who received awards over the weekend, particularly Roisín Lawless of Twin Productions, Galway, Alan Greaney of Ennis Musical Society, Hannah Wright of Bravo Theatre Group, Emer Hartnett of Portlaoise Musical Society and the members of both Galway University Musical Society and Sligo Fun Company.