Welcome to the Lyric Theatre and our production of The Snow Queen
We are delighted that you have chosen to see your Christmas show at the Lyric and are grateful for your support of this theatre. This year has been a wonderful one for the theatre. We premiered four new plays that were diverse, entertaining, and adventurous; we embarked on an award-winning tour with the Abbey theatre on Brian Friel’s seminal Translations, and we played to capacity houses with Marie Jones’ Stones in his Pockets produced by Barn Theatre and had many excellent touring productions through our theatre.
We are thrilled to finish the year with yet another fantastic piece of new work by the incredibly talented Paul Boyd this time on the hugely atmospheric and mysterious, The Snow Queen. Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s tale just as the Disney movie Frozen was.
Paul has an excellent team supporting him including Deborah Maguire as Choreographer, Oli Rew as Musical Director, Stuart Marshall as Set Designer, Eoin Robinson as Video Designer, Gillian Lenox as Costume Designer and Mary Tumelty on Lights, and an amazing
company of actors who also provide so much of the music. It’s a truly brilliant company.
I welcome you to sit back and be transported to this world filled with magic and wonder that our Company has sewn together with Blomsterby roses and adventure.
On behalf of the team here and our board may I wish you all a peaceful and Merry Christmas and a healthy and Happy New Year!
JIMMY FAY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
This year I am marking 30 years of creating original musical theatre and it is fitting that I find myself back home in Belfast where my first ever musical was produced in 1992, and where so many of my best-loved shows have started life.
When the Lyric Theatre asked me earlier this year to create a new musical of The Snow Queen I accepted the challenge - and a challenge it was. Not only is Hans Christian Andersen’s wintery fairytale a notoriously difficult story to adapt for the stage, but I was also very aware that this new musical would be my twenty-sixth to be produced, premiering in this my thirtieth year, and that it would become part of the series of original family musical adventures that audiences at the Lyric have taken to their hearts in recent years.
My involvement with the Lyric dates back to 1998 when Alice The Musical was commissioned for the theatre’s iconic old building on Ridgeway Street. This production was followed in 1999 by my musical adaptation of Hansel & Grettel. To date these are my only musicals to have been presented in both the old Lyric and on the current beautiful Lyric main stage (Hansel & Grettel was revived in the new building in 2012, and Alice The Musical finally returned home in 2018 having been produced around the world).
My musicals staged in the original Lyric building also include Red - The Red Riding Hood Musical (in 2001), McCool (in 2002, coproduced on tour with Big Telly Theatre Company), and Pinocchio (in 2006, nominated as Best Production for Children and Young People at the UK Theatre Awards). The Tale of the Beauty and The Tail of the Beast was presented in 2009 during the Lyric’s residency at the Elmwood Hall whilst the new theatre was being built.
For today’s modern Lyric main stage I was commissioned to write the adult cult hit musical comedy Molly Wobbly which was presented in concert in 2011 and 2012 prior to acclaimed runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and in London’s West End (where it was nominated for five BroadwayWorld West End Awards), and more recently the Lyric commissioned the musicals-forall-ages Peter Pan The Musical (in 2019) and Pinocchio The Greatest Wonder of the Age (in 2021).
The Snow Queen is, ultimately, a story about belonging, and as much as Gerda feels that she belongs in the sunny climes of Blomsterby, my shows have, for more than two decades now, belonged at the Lyric Theatre. No matter where else in the world my works are produced, they always retain something of their original production, of the Lyric, and of Belfast.
So whilst this musical of The Snow Queen is set in a far-off land, its heart is to be found very much closer to home; admittedly the weather in Blomsterby is very different to that in Belfast, specially in December. The show is a thank you letter to my home town, to its landmark full time producing theatre, and to all my friends and colleagues here - and to my choreographer and friend Deborah, the Gerda to my Kai for almost thirty years.
Gerda sings, “Have you ever had a dream of going on an adventure?”. Well, I did. And it has been my absolute pleasure to bring you all along with me.
PAUL BOYD WRITER, DIRECTOR & COMPOSER
“The show is a thank you letter to my home town, to its landmark full time
producing theatre, and to all my friends and colleagues here “
THE COMPANY
The Snow Queen
Oakie / Baa
Captain Crow
The Prince Gerda
Kai / Beech
Grandmother / Heather / Tanzy
Book, Music, and Lyrics by
Choreographer
Musical Director
Director
Set Designer
Lighting Designer
Costume Designer
Puppet Designer
Video Designer
Executive Producer
Senior Producer
Literary Manager
Casting Director
Production Co-ordinator
Head of Production
Production Manager
Senior Production Technician
Company Stage Manager
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Managers
Ruby Campbell
Christopher Finn
Darren Franklin
Aaron Halliwell
Calla Hughes Nic Aoidh
Ben McGarvey
Christina Nelson
Paul Boyd
Deborah Maguire
Oli Rew
Paul Boyd
Stuart Marshall
Mary Tumelty
Gillian Lennox
Enda Kenny
Eoin Robinson
Jimmy Fay
Morag Keating
Rebecca Mairs
Clare Gault
Kerry Fitzsimmons
Adrian Mullan
Siobhán Barbour
Ian Vennard
Aimee Yates
Louise Graham
Kerri McGimpsey
Richard Paine
Marjolaine Demaude
Costume Supervisor
Costume Assistants
Makers
Breakdown Artists
Pattern Cutter
Dresser & Maintenance
Hair & Make-up
Technical Manager
Technicians
Chief LX and Programmer
Set Construction
Scenic Construction Manager
Lead Scenic Carpenter
Scenic Carpenter
Scenic Construction Apprentice
Scenic Artists
Percussion Consultant
Gillian Lennox
Sarah Carey
Niamh Mockford
Marian Hegarty
Una Hickey
Sarah McClintock
Erica Poole
Niamh Mockford
Ally McConnell
Caroline Reynolds
Arthur Oliver-Brown
Liam Hinchcliffe
Declan Paxton
Corentin West
Annemarie Langan
Jonny Daley
Lyric Theatre Scenic Workshop
Courtney Drakos
Aidan Payne
Michael Edgar
Jack McGarrigle
Stuart Marshall
Chris Hunter
Joe Pickering
CAST
RUBY CAMPBELL THE SNOW QUEEN
Trained at: the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Lyric Theatre credits: Translations (Abbey Theatre) Rough Girls, Lovers: Winners and Losers, Alice the Musical, Driving Home for Christmas
Other theatre includes: Into the Woods (NI Opera), The Half Moon (Green Shoot) Sylvan, Tragik Plastik (Tinderbox) The Broads (Strand Arts), Dirty Talk (No Touching Theatre), And The Band Keeps Marching On (Sky Arts/Barbican) Splish Splash (Oily Cart), The Ferryman (Sonia Friedman Productions), She Moved Through The Fair (Tron Theatre), Girls and Dolls (Pintsized Productions), Babble, Lifeboat (Replay) Lady Windermere’s Fan (MAC/Bruiser)
Film, TV and Audio includes: Counsel (BBC), Stumbling (Doreen Productions), The Dissenter (Dumbworld Productions), On The Street Where We Live (MAC), Did You Hear the One About the Irishman…? (Abbey Theatre)
Trained at: Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts
Lyric Theatre credits: Pinocchio- The Greatest Wonder of the Age, Peter Pan: The Musical, Hansel + Grettel, Molly Wobbly’s.
Other Theatre includes: In The Night Garden Live (UK Tour); All- Male Iolanthe (Various) Mr Popper’s Penguins (The Children’s Theatre, Minneapolis) The Giant Jam Sandwich (New Perspectives, UK tour) Dr Longitude’s Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie, Alice’s Adventures underground (Various); Cosi (King’s Head Theatre); Molly Wobbly (Leicester Square Theatre, London); Tinseltown, Hunchback The Musical (Theatre at the Mill); Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, Midsummer night’s Dream (Festival Players Tour); Double Bed (Dandelion Productions); The Next Big Thing (Leicester Square Theatre); The Three Little Pigs (Greenwich Theatre) Canterbury Tales (British Museum): Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Black Box, Belfast); In The Spotlight (UK Tour); The Comedy of Errors (Brockwell Park) Richard III (Brockley Jack); Edges (C Venues, Edinburgh); The Happy End (Chelsea Theatre); Not About Nightingales (Landor); Piaf (Rocket, Edinburgh).
Film credits include: The Shot; 2 Minutes; Triple Jeopardy.
Online Credits: My Name Is Martin; The Magic Bookshelf.
Cast Recordings include: One Night Stand; Tinseltown; Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory; Pilate’s Wife; Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens. Peter Pan: The Musical, Pinocchio- the Greatest Wonder of the Age DEMO recording.
Darren Franklin is an actor from Belfast.
His theatre credits, include The Ferryman (Gielgud Theatre), Abomination: A DUP Opera (Abbey Theatre), Tír na nÓg (Aon Sceal/Mill Theatre, Dundrum), A Christmas Carol, Stitching Time, Herons, Graveyard Shift (The MAC), Teenage Kicks (Millennium Forum), Departure Lounge (Grand Opera House, Belfast), Mass, Pirates of Penzance Concert (The Belfast Ensemble), Kiss Me Kate, The Devil Made Me Do It (N.I. Opera), Macbeth, Mixed Marriage, Propaganda: A New Musical (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), When I Say ‘Tee’, You Say ‘Bo’ (Edinburgh Fringe), Lay Up Your Ends”, The Home Place, Shh, We Have a Plan, Stitched Up (N.I. Tour), EGG (U.S.A. Tour).
Film and television credits include Gone (Future Screens), Septet for (The Belfast Ensemble), Lord Mountbatten (RTE/History Channel) Dry Your Eyes, Betrayal of Trust, Give My Head Peace (BBC).
Darren has an ALCM Distinction from the London College of Music. He plays the piano, guitar, drums, Eb (tenor) Horn, Saxophone (Alto), recorder and
DARREN FRANKLIN CAPTAIN CROW
CHRISTOPHER FINN OAKIE / BAA
Trained at: The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Theatre Credits include: Sweeney Todd, 9 To 5 The Musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Violet (The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) Ragtime (National Youth Music Theatre)
Radio credits: Original song Cross Roads (BBC Radio Cumbria)
Awards: 2018 Best Comedic role NODA North West Award.
Aaron is making his professional debut in this production of The Snow Queen.
Trained at: Italia Conti, London
She grew up in Newry, Co. Down and completed her training in Musical Theatre at Italia Conti, London, graduating in 2022.
Theatre Credits include: The Wedding Singer, Footloose (Italia Conti, London), ÉRAINN - A New Musical (Workshop)
Calla is very excited to be making her professional debut as Gerda in the Snow Queen this Christmas.
Other Theatre credits: Americana: A murder ballad (Edinburgh Fringe) Sweeney Todd (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) 9-5 The Musical (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) West Side Story (Grand Opera House)
Film, TV and radio credits: Magpie Music Video (Mooncrest Films) The Black Dog (Brunswick Productions) Line (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) The Northman (Universal Pictures) Almost Never (CBBC)
Awards/ Additional information: Recipient of The Leathersellers’ Company Scholarship 2019 and the Thomas Devlin Fund Bursary for contribution to performing arts in
BEN MCGARVEY KAI / BEECH
CALLA HUGHES NIC AOIDH GERDA
AARON HALLIWELL THE PRINCE
CHRISTINA NELSON GRANDMOTHER / HEATHER / TANZY
Christina Nelson is a highly acclaimed actress, director and writer. She just finished Directing Bernies Big Day Out in the SSE Arena. Currently also writing and directing a series of outdoor theatre shows co produced by The Mac Theatre and Young At Art Children’s Festival. Christina is working with GBL and Greenshoot productions on a new community engagement theatre project, culminating in a large-scale professional production written by Gary Mitchell in 2023.
Christina has just finished directing the opening performance of Wake the Giant Festival in Newry Mourne and Down. She has also just directed a performance for Beyond the Pale Festival with Grasshopper Events. Creative Director of PBMusicals, she is Directing a youth production of Alice the Musical for Christmas and is delighted to be staring in the Lyric Theatres production of The Snow Queen
Over the last year she has directed and appeared in a series of comedy plays touring throughout Northern Ireland. The latest being I’ll Tell My Ma a prequel to the Aisling Award winning Is That Too Hot by Patricia Gormley.
Last year Christina Directed a sell out show for online sensation Belfast Girls at the SSE Arena Belfast. During 2020/21 Nelson played Bette Midler in a successful tour of The Broads by Maria Connelly .
TV/Film Credits: Back in 5 (Armchair and Rocket), History Makers (director Stephen Pierce, BBC), Make the Difference, (Director Michael Oneil) My Mother and Other Strangers, (Director Adrian Shergold, BBC)
CREATIVES
PAUL BOYD WRITER, DIRECTOR & COMPOSER
Paul Boyd is Belfast’s most prolific multi award-nominated writer and composer; The Snow Queen is his 26th original stage musical to be professionally produced.
As well as his musicals which are regularly presented in productions worldwide, Paul is the composer of many original scores and soundtracks for professional theatre productions across Ireland and the UK, the cocreator and co-director of a series of internationally acclaimed water spectaculars, the writer of various plays that have toured nationally, and a stage director who has enjoyed successful collaborations with many of the world’s leading theatre producers.
His first production at the Lyric Theatre was Alice The Musical in 1998. The Lyric has also staged his musicals Hansel & Grettel (in 1999 and again in 2012), Red (in 2000), McCool (in 2002), and The Tale of the Beauty and the Tail of the Beast (in 2009).
Alice The Musical was commissioned by the Lyric Theatre and was revived in 2018 to mark the show’s 20th anniversary. The Lyric also commissioned Paul’s cult hit musical comedy Molly Wobbly which was presented in concert at the Lyric (in 2011 and 2012) before successful runs in Edinburgh and London’s West End. The Lyric has also commissioned and presented Paul’s stage musicals Peter Pan The Musical (2019) and Pinocchio The Greatest Wonder of the Age (2021).
This year Paul is celebrating 30 years of creating original musical theatre. His acclaimed musical The Tale of the Beauty and the Tail of the Beast is currently running at The North Wall in Oxford presented by The Stage 100 Award winners Creation Theatre. Paul’s new stage adaptation of Spike Milligan’s war memoir Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall will tour the UK next year.
STUART MARSHALL SET DESIGNER
At the Lyric, Stuart previously designed the sets for Paul Boyd’s Alice the Musical, The Tale of the Beauty and the Tail of the Beast, Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan and Pinocchio. Elsewhere he has also designed Pinocchio [Marketplace, Armagh], Hansel and Grettel [Armagh and Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire], The Little Mermaid and Sinbad [aquatic productions with Big Telly Theatre Company].
Other previous designs for the Lyric include The BFG, Driving Home for Christmas, The Snowman, Little Shop of Horrors, The Nativity: What the Donkey Saw, There Was an Old Woman…, Marie Jones’ Christmas Eve Can Kill You and its sequel New Year’s Eve Can Kill You, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Charlotte’s Web, Mistletoe and Crime, Season’s Greetings, The Star Catcher, Sleeping Beauty and Bah Humbug!
Seasonal designs for other companies include Aladdin, Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella {Waterfront Hall Belfast], Christmas Eve Can Kill You [Belfast Civic Arts Theatre and Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey] and Hansel and Gretel [MAC Belfast].
MARY
TUMELTY LIGHTNING DESIGNER
Mary Tumelty, born and lives in Belfast, graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast in 2004 with a BA in Drama Studies. She trained at the Grand Opera House, Belfast in Lighting, Sound and Stage Management for two years. In 2006 she moved to a full- time permanent position within the Brian Friel Theatre at Queen’s University as a theatre instructor.
Recent credits Lighting Design, Abomination (Lyric Theatre) The Belfast Ensemble & Outburst Festival, which received an Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Opera 2020. Installation Design, Crazy Golf (Craigavon) CDM. Associate Lighting Design, The revival of Shirley (Lyric Theatre) Lighting Design, Body Politics (The Mac Theatre) MACHA Productions. Lighting Design, Kindermusik (Belfast Children’s Festival). Lighting Design, Ten Plagues (Film Credit) The Belfast Ensemble. Lighting Design, Shankill/ Falls Women’s Project. Lighting Design, Democracy Dances (Orchestra and Electronics collaboration) Ulster Orchestra and The Belfast Ensemble (Water Front Hall) Lighting Design, The Musician (Lyric Theatre) The Belfast Ensemble. Lighting Installation Design, Airtastic (Abbey Centre) Lighting Design, Conversations with Friends (Lyric Theatre) CWF Productions (Element Pictures, BBC Three, Hulu) Lighting Design, The Saviour (The Everyman Theatre, Cork) Landmark Productions. Production Designer, The Car Park (Partisian Productions) Relight, The Dead An Opera (The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin) Pyrotechnics Design, programmer and Operator. (Zodiak Kids, CBBC ) Relight, Backwards up a rainbow, Landmark Productions (Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire) Lighting Design, Body
Politics (Brian Friel Theatre) Macha Productions. Lighting Design, A Night in November (The Mac Theatre) Soda Bread Theatre Company. Lighting Design for Pinocchio (The Lyric Theatre) Lighting Design, How to Bury a dead Mule, (Lyric Studio) Lighting Design, Blue Stockings (Lyric Studio). Lighting Design, Abomination (Abbey Theatre, Dublin) Lighting Design, Birds of Passage in the Half Light. Tinderbox (Gilded Balloon Edinburgh) Lighting Design, Electric Picnic (laois) Lighting Design, Propaganda (Lyric Theatre)
Mary Is delighted to being doing the lighting design for The Snow Queen at The Lyric Theatre Belfast.
DEBORAH MAGUIRE CHOREOGRAPHER
Deborah was born in Belfast and currently lives in New York City. She trained at The Guildford School of Acting and The Royal Academy of Music in London.
She has worked extensively in theatre and television.
Lyric Theatre credits; Pinocchio The Greatest Wonder of the Age; Peter Pan The Musical; Alice The Musical; Bah Humbug; What the Reindeer Saw; Beauty and the Beast; The Nativity, what the Donkey Saw; Gingerbread Mixup; Sleeping Beauty; Cinderella; Pride and Prejudice the Musical; Weddings Weeins and Wakes; Forget Turkey; The Little Prince; The Painkiller; Dockers; The Tale of the Beauty and the Tail of the Beast; Howl; The Home Place; The Wizard of Oz; Dancing at Lughnasa; The Snow Queen.
Other theatre credits; Comedy of Errors the Musical; Sleeping Beauty; Jack and the Beanstalk; Aladdin; Scrooge’s Christmas; The Wizard of Oz. (Ulster Theatre Company) Dancing Shoes (GBL)
Television; This Morning (ITV) The Friday Show (BBC) An Engagement with Franc (BBC) The Tractor Show (BBC) Children in Need (BBC) BBC Blast NI (BBC) EIHL Championship (Sky TV)
Advertising Campaigns; Radio Ulster Spring Trail (BBC) U105 Breakfast Show (UTV) Hughes Insurance (UTV) Coca Cola Today’s going to be a good day (Coca Cola)
Awards
In 2009 Deborah was honored with a Pride of Britain award for her work with young people in Northern Ireland.
Deborah is delighted to be back at the Lyric and wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
GILLIAN LENNOX COSTUME DESIGNER
After graduating with BA hons in Fashion and Textiles at The University of Ulster Gillian Lennox went on to be a designer within the fashion industry. After a spell designing for Marks & Spencer Menswear Gillian began a 14-year career working for a London based manufacturing/design company where she progressed to Head Designer supplying companies such as online retailer ASOS, and Southern Ireland high street stores Dunnes and A-Wear. Her designs for ASOS and AWear were often featured in magazine editorials.
Gillian’s work often took her overseas to Paris, Syria and Morocco where she gained insight into the entire process of textile design, garment and pattern construction.
Throughout her career Gillian also continued with her own freelance work and has been a maker and illustrator for Universal Studios when they first came to Northern Ireland with films such as Your Highness and more recently was a maker for the movie The Northman.
Gillian has assisted on the BBC Proms and Children in Need, and designed and made the costumes for The Belfast Mela South Asian Dance Academy.
Before being appointed as Costume Supervisor with the Lyric Theatre in August 2017 Gillian free-lanced as a maker with the Lyric Theatre, working on various productions including Little Red Riding Hood & the Big Bad Wolf, The Gingerbread Mix Up, The 39 Steps and The Ladykillers.
For the Lyric Theatre, Gillian has supervised the costume department on all producing shows for the past five years and has been the Costume Designer for Dr Scroggy’s War, Good Vibrations, Alice: The Musical, Double Cross, Rough Girls (Arts & Business Awards) Dark of the Moon, Shirley Valentine, Peter Pan: The musical, 1984 (Postponed Covid), Sadie, Dracula, Pinocchio and Blue stockings
Most recently Gillian has been involved in a living history tender for Mid Ulster Council/Lyric designing and producing 23 costumes for historical sites and National trust properties.
OLI GEORGE REW MUSICAL DIRECTOR
While reading engineering at Cambridge, Oli got the theatre bug working on student shows at the ADC Theatre. He was subsequently awarded a Lesley Hayes scholarship to study musical directing at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He is now based in London and works as a freelance musical director both in the UK and internationally.
Musical Directing and Musical Supervising credits include: Awakening of Cheerful Feelings (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama); Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and Alice In Wonderland (Lyric Theatre, Belfast); Just So (University of Chichester); Our House (Urdang Academy); Jet Set Go! (Turbine Theatre); Honk (Union Theatre and UK Tour); Soldier On (The Other Palace, Playground Theatre and UK Tour); Give My Regards To Broadway (Upstairs at the Gatehouse); H.R.Haitch (Union Theatre); Hot Lips and Cold War (London Theatre Workshop); Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Aladdin (Theatre Royal Bath); When Midnight Strikes and Birds of Paradise (Drayton Arms Theatre); Chicken Little, DinoStory (From Page To Stage Festival of New Musical Theatre, The Other Palace Studio); Busters (Bernie Grant Arts Centre); Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk (The Maltings, Ely); Hello, Dolly! (ADC Theatre, Cambridge).
EOIN ROBINSON
VIDEO DESIGNER
Studied at: Ulster University
Rough Magic Theatre Company Credits: Rough Weekend (Project Arts Centre), All The Angels (The Everyman/ Smock Alley)
Other Theatre Credits:
Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry (Abbey Theatre), How to Bury a Dead Mule (Lyric Theatre), The Aurochs are Coming (Replay Theatre Company)
Artistic Development: 2021/22 SEEDS Apprentice Rough Magic Theatre Company 2022 Open Futures Residency Light Moves Festival/Dance Limerick 2021 Emerging Artist Big Telly Theatre Company
