'Calendar Girls' hopes to raise €15,000 for Offaly Hospice

The local theatre company behind a hugely-successful sellout production of 'Calendar Girls The Musical' in Esker Arts Centre last week are hoping to raise up to €15,000 for Offaly Hospice.

Funhouse Theatre Company, which was established by Jay Origan, a teacher in the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Tullamore and Sinéad Handy from Clara, a former nurse and now full-time drama teacher, had a waiting list for tickets to all six performances of their inaugural musical production last week such was the huge popularity of the musical.

“Everyone has been affected by cancer in one way or another, so when we decided to stage 'Calendar Girls' we also said we would try to do some fundraising for the Midlands Hospice as part of the build up to the musical and also to raise awareness about the need for a hospice in the Midlands,” said Sinéad Handy.

The first fundraising initiative by Funhouse, which is a not-for-profit theatre company, was the Sunflowers Step Challenge, which was launched in January in conjunction with Tullamore Town FC.

This was followed up by the launch of an 18-month 'nude' calendar featuring some well-known local faces, which was on sale throughout the week of the musical at €10 each, and is still available in the Offaly Hospice shop and on their website www.offalyhospice.ie with all proceeds from the sale going directly to Offaly Hospice. A sponsored headshave and leg waxing night also formed part of the Funhouse fundraising activities, and Sinéad Handy said all the fundraising events organised over the past few months have been “extremely well supported.”

To try to defray some of the huge costs involved in bringing 'Calendar Girls The Musical' to the Tullamore stage, the Funhouse Theatre Company teamed up with the Midlands Credit Unions, who came on board as their headline advertiser.

The vast majority of the talented cast on stage in Esker Arts Centre last week were drawn from the local and wider Midlands area, and Sinéad Handy said that both herself and Jay Origan knew they had “a really good show” to bring to Tullamore audiences “by the calibre of the cast and the production team” which was led by Director Pat McElwain; Musical Director Shane Farrell; Chorus Master James Murphy and Choreographer Chris Corroon.

A note from Professor Humphrey O'Connor of Offaly Hospice in the digital programme for 'Calendar Girls The Musical' paid tribute to Jay Origan, Sinéad Handy and all the team at Funhouse Theatre Company for their fundraising efforts on behalf of the Midlands Hospice project.

“It is very important that the Midlands continues strong local support for the Hospice project and what Funhouse Theatre Company are doing is a wonderful example of that support....we really appreciate what you have achieved,” he said.