Fanfare For The Cummann Man

It takes one hell of a creative mind to conjure up a stage musical centred around the GAA peppered with elements of Star Wars and ancient Irish folklore, but that’s precisely what writer/director Bryan Flynn and writer/actor Kevin McCormack have done. Already a smash hit in hurling-mad Cork, Clare and Waterford, The All Star Wars tells the story of ‘Hugh Cullen’ (as played by McCormack), a 42-year-old Junior B hurler who, mistaken for a blood relative of Cúchulainn, is whisked off on a madcap adventure, encountering larger than life characters such as ‘Obi Wan Camogie’ along the way.

“We had to pay tribute to the people on the ground, pay tribute to the heroes of the game, to the pundits of the game,” notes McCormack, “We’ve done all of that in a very entertaining fashion without rubbing anybody up the wrong way. We wanted the sense of community and everything that the GAA is about and everything that is important to the people in it, we wanted that to get its moment in the limelight. It’s what we set out to do and it’s absolutely what we have firmly succeeded in doing, the proof being in the reactions from the audiences that are coming to see it.”
Made up of a strong ensemble cast performing multiple parts, the standout role belongs to Gaiety panto star Richie Hayes (currently adorning Irish screens as a member of Brian Kennedy’s team of singing hopefuls on The Voice Of Ireland), taking on a heightened version of Clare legend and ex-Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald in chameleon-like fashion. Indeed, Hayes’ portrayal of the outspoken former Déise boss has been met with many a vociferous reaction, not least from the man himself. Having learned in advance (via text message) that Fitzgerald would be there in the flesh, Flynn and McCormack were faced with a dilemma “Bryan read out the text, the phone shaking in his hand,” recalls an ashen-faced McCormack. “He turns to me and says, ‘Fuck. Will we tell Richie or not?’ and with that, you couldn’t have penned this, it was like something you’d see in a sitcom, Richie walked in and said, ‘Tell me what?’ so we had no choice but to tell him. He sat down, put his head in his hands and then suddenly clapped his hands and went, ‘Okay. Fuck it, so what if he is?’. “We knew where he was sitting and everybody was watching him from the stage and he was just rocking in his seat from laughter. For us it was like having Jesus walk onto the set of The Life Of Brian! He came backstage and he was gunning for Richie, saying, ‘Where is he? The little fucker, where is he!’ He shook hands and took photographs with everybody.”