Brian Gilligan and John McLarnon the Commitments
The Commitments has just celebrated its first birthday on the West End and we were lucky enough to be invited along to the knees up! The wine was flowing, the audience was clapping and best of all, we got to see this super fun show once again!
Just a couple of days before the big event we caught up with some of the new cast of the show, Brian Gilligan who plays the new “Deco” and John McLarnon who plays the new “Outspan.”
Now The Commitments is undoubtedly one of the most fun shows in town and we got the full lowdown from Brian and John, check out the interview below as well as (of course) the Lightning Round challenge!
Moments to watch out for:
- From 38 seconds – 1.27 the boys introduce one another.
- At 1.36 listen to how Brian was discovered singing on a Palace Theatre stairwell and offered the role of Deco.
- 3.00 – the boys discuss their on stage nicknames
- 4.16 – 6 minutes the boys demonstrate their talent. At 4.30 Brian sings for us and at 4.55 John shows us his (air) guitar skills!
- From 6 minutes the pair discuss their former bands.
- Between 6.50 and 7.05 see some (slightly questionable!) pictures of the boys in the old bands. Hello hair!
- At 7.33 Brian decides whether he could take Killian Donnelly in a sing off.
- At 8 minutes Brian discusses his day to day hair decisions in the role. Lush.
- From 9 minutes the boys do their best sales pitch, discussing why people should come and see The Commitments!
The Lightning Round
As is customary when meeting actors for interviews, I threw the Lightning Round at these boys, which they tackled with the gusto one would expect from the leading cast of The Commitments! If you want to know whether John and Brian prefer blondes or brunettes, a pint of Guinness or a pint of Murphy’s and what their opinions on fighting ten foot trolls would be. Sounds like a laugh riot. It is.
The Birthday Party!
So on the 8th October we went along to the Palace Theatre to celebrate The Commitments first birthday in the West End! We had a truly fabulous evening watching the show, which still had us singing and dancing a year later! What a treat! The audience (us included) were loving it and were on their feet dancing by the end of the night.
After the show we were invited to an exclusive post show drinks mixer with the cast, where we caught up with Brian and John once again as well as our old friend Denis (you can see our interview with Denis Grindel and Killian Donnelly from last year here!)
The Commitments is currently running at the Palace Theatre and is a guaranteed fun night out in the city! See this show now!