Cast

He is a regular in Grand Opera House, Belfast Pantomimes for Qdos playing the title role in Aladdin, Buttons in Cinderella and can also be seen this Christmas playing Muddles in Snow White and The 7 Dwarfs.

Other credits include Puck in A Mid Summer Nights Dream (Ludlow Shakespeare Fest), Mikey Finn in Dance Hall Days (The Riverside Studios) and Ponsonbey Pryce in  Bedazzled (Northumberland Touring Company).

Aidan has Presented for such channels as Nickelodeon, Paramount and Mtv and he can be heard everyday on RTE as the sole voice of the cartoon, Lifeboat Luke.  

Marty Maguire                                                                                                                     

Marty’s acting career began with the Ulster Youth Theatre in 1985 with their production of Grease(Danny Zuko) and West Side Story (Riff). He then went on to do numerous plays at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast including Orphans and Da and a variety of pantomimes at the Arts Theatre.

After shooting the TV movie The Grasscutter in New Zealand he moved to Los Angeles in 1989. His performance in Marie Jones’ A Night in November won him the Spirit of The Fringe and Best Actor awards at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Best Actor of 2003.

Marty recently appeared as The Bull McCabe in the New York Rep’s production of The Feildand as Knacker Woods in the world premier of Marie Jones’ Rockdoves at the New York Irish Arts Center. He was in the original cast of On Eagle’s Wingand has enjoyed touring extensively in Martin Lynch’s award winning Chronicles of Long Kesh over the past two years in the role of Oscar with the production winning being awarded Best Ensemble at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival by The Stage Newspaper.

Marty has just completed a sell out run in the Grand opera House with Dancing Shoes – The George Best Story where he played Matt Busby and Bob Bishop to name but a few.

With numerous TV, film, radio and showband credits over the years Marty has featured as The Shooter in the current movie Fragments with Forest Whittaker and Dakota Fanning and recently finish.

Conor trained at Queen’s University Belfast and the National Youth Theatre and is from Donaghmore in Co. Tyrone.

Lyric Theatre credits include: Whistle In The Dark, Pictures of Tomorrow, Macbeth (co production with Prime Cut); Plucked and Stuffed (co written with Alan McKee), Paradise (co written with Padraig Coyle and Alan McKee) The Nativity...What the Donkey Saw, Santa Claus…What The Reindeer Saw, Bah! Humbug and Howl! (all co-written with Alan McKee).

Other theatre credits include: The Duke of Hope (co-written with Alan McKee for Tinderbox), The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty (GBL Productions, Grand Opera House), Translations (Manus/An Grainán co production), The Glass Menagerie (Arts Theatre), Dumped (Tinderbox Theatre Company), The History of the Troubles (Accordin’ to my Da!) co-written with Alan McKee and Martin Lynch (MAC Productions/ Big Buzz Award winner for Best Play 2003), The Belfast Carmen (Grand Opera House, Belfast) and Binlids (Dubbeljoint).

Film and television credits include Messiah, As the Beast Sleeps and Puddy Cat (BBC), Green Oranges (UTV) The Pan Loaf (CH4),  MickyBo and Me and Cupcake. He has presented Motormouth, The Visitors and The Tractor Show, all for BBC NI with Alan McKee.

Conor is also well known for his TV ads including those for Donegal Catch and Hughes Insurance.

Paddy Jenkins                                                                                                                                                 

Paddy hails from Belfast; he has just completed a two-month Dutch tour of On Eagles Wing. The feature film: Cupcake with director Colin McIvor has also just premiered in Belfast. His other recent film and television credits include Hunger (Blast Films), Black Taxi (4x4), Photograph (Northern Ireland Screen), Ainsley in CITV’s Bels Boys, Oscar-nominated Everything In This Country Mustboth for Silver Films, Pulling Moves (BBC), I Fought The Law (BBC), Eureka StreetGive My Head Peace, as the character Pastor Begbie. and Endgame,  (BBC) and he is a regular guest star in hit BBC comedy

Paddy’s theatre credits include A Happy Medium, with his old sparring partner May McFettridge on tour and in the Grand Opera House in September, Closer (Rawlife), Candide (Bruiser), Scenes From The Big Picture (Prime Cut), A Very Weird Manor (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Working Class Heroes (Dubblejoint), The Twits (An Grianan), The Wizard of Oz (Grand Opera House), Beauty and the Beast (Grand Opera House), West Side Story (Grand Opera House), Oliver! (Grand Opera House), To Be Sure (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), The Blind Fiddler (Grand Opera House and Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Right Again Barnum (Civic Arts Theatre), Suite in Three Keys (Riverside Theatre), Oliver! (Civic Arts Theatre) and the critically acclaimed stage and television spectacular, On Eagle’s Wing (Odyssey Arena, PBS United States). 

This is Paddy’s first time working with GBL Productions and is delighted to be back on the Grand Opera House stage and to be part of the World Premiere of Dancing Shoes- The George Best Story.

Maria Connolly                                                                                                                                             

Maria, from Belfast, trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama. 

Theatre Credits include Howl (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), That Woman at Rathard (Centre Stage), This Other City (Tinderbox), Scenes From the Big Picture (Prime Cut), The Official Version (Dubbeljoint), John Bull’s Other Island, Macbeth (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Flaming Fables and The Millies both for Replay Productions, Arden of Faversham (Royal Scottish Academy), Shopping and F***ing, Problem Child (nominated for an Irish Times/ESB Best Actress award), Criminal Genius (Prime Cut Productions), Hey, Hey Good Looking  (Soho Theatre Company), Energy (Derry Playhouse), The Pearl (Battersea Arts Centre), Translations (New Vic), Language Roulette, Convictions (Tinderbox), Silverface (Gate Theatre, Notting Hill), War of The Roses and Yerma (Embassy Theatre).

Film and television credits include Maru for TG4, Mickybo and Me (Mickybo Films Ltd), On Dangerous Ground (Carousel), A Rap at The Door, Out of The Deep Pan and Made in Heaven (BBC 2).

Writing credits: Bruised for Tinderbox Theatre Company, Bathtime and All Fall Down for Replay Theatre Company, We Got Tonight for BBC Radio 4 and Massive for Tinderbox Theatre Company.

Packy Lee                                                                                                                                                         
 

This is Packy's first time working with Martin Lynch and Peter Sheridan, he has worked with Marie Jones on New Year’s Eve Can Kill You and The Liverpool Boat.
In other theatre Packy has featured strongly in the works of Northern Irish playwrights, including in Owen McCafferty’s Shoot The Crow (Trafalgar Square, London's West End), Scenes From The Big Picture (National Theatre, London and Waterfront Hall, Belfast), Mojo Mickybo (Royal Exchange, Manchester),Tom Murphy's Whistle in the Dark (Glasgow's Citizen's Theatre), Dave Duggan's Still The Blackbird Sings (Playhouse Theatre, Derry, Project Theatre, Dublin) and Gary Mitchell's Marching On. Other Theatre Credits include Prime Cut’s Black Milk, Shopping and F**king and Macbeth. Also Mick Duke’s RevengeMassive both for Tinderbo and Maria Connolly's x Theatre Company. 

Kerri is from North Belfast and discovered her passion for performing at an early age.  She enrolled in a Performing Arts course at BIFHE and on completion continued with her studies at Queens University where she achieved a BA Honours degree in Theatre Studies.  

Since graduating Kerri's theatrical roles include Susie Ego in The Weein' (Stewart Parker Trust Award, Red Lemon Productions), Sister in The Girl on the Sofa (Primecut), Anita in Westside Story (Jim Molloy Promotions Dublin), Katie Brown in Calamity Jane (Peter Kennedy), Cabin Boy in Pirates (Fintan Brady), Rapping Genie in Aladdin (C21 Theatre Company) and Anna in Watermark (Tom Finley).  Kerri has just finished a tour of Sylvia Plath’s Three Women with C21 Theatre Company. 

Her TV appearances include: The Last Story Teller (RTE 1), The Snap (dramatic short), Spotlight Reconstruction (BBC1) and a Lidl commercial in 2009.  Kerri has been touring the North of Ireland for the past ten years with the ABBA tribute band, The Super Troopers.  Kerri is thrilled to be involved in GBL Productions’ Dancing Shoes.  Despite her father being a Wolves supporter, the rest of the family all turned out to be Manchester United fans.

Alana Kerr                                                                                                                                                         

Originally from Belfast, Alana graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 2006 with a joint 2:1 in Drama / English. She trained at the Leinster School of Music, the National Youth Theatre (NYT) and the National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) where she was cast as one of the leads in Goblin Market at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. Alana later reprised the role of Lizzie when Goblin Market was performed again at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival under YMT:UK. She was also the original Young People’s Representative for Music Theatre 4 Youth (MT4Uth) and is an avid supporter of their work.

Alana is currently undertaking a year’s training in Meisner Technique with the Impulse Company, London under the tutelage of Scott Williams, himself a former student of Sanford Meisner, and credits the technique with injecting a new sense of truth to her work.

Theatre credits include: the original record-breaking run of Dancing Shoes: The George Best Story at the Grand Opera House, Belfast; Ladybird (Primecut), Pride and Prejudice (Replay), As You Like It (Jigsaw), Romeo and Juliet (Belfast Actors’ Studio) Cinderella (Waterfront Hall, Belfast – twice!), Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk (Ulster Theatre Company).

Film and TV:  Christopher and His Kind (BBC), Puppeteer for two series of CBeebies’ Sesame Tree (Sesame Workshop/16 South) and Big City Park (Pilot – BBC/16 South), Emu (Endemol), The Deal (BBC Talent Boost), Glad You Know (Bandwidth), Eclectic Memories (Kwolli Media) and various short films. She has also appeared as a TV Presenter for UTV’s Live at the Limelight and in numerous TV and radio advertising campaigns, including her most well-known TV campaign for the NI Tourist Board (Engagement Campaign). Alana was even Heather Graham’s stand-in/double in the feature film, Miss Conception (BBS Productions)! 

Radio: Eleanor in Lucy Caldwell’s award-winning Girl From Mars (BBC Radio 4).

Alana is the founder of the Belfast Actors’ Studio, a group dedicated to the development of actors’ skills and ongoing creative growth and regularly trains at the Actors Centre in London where she now lives.  She is a keen follower of Bikram Yoga and is, in fact, a fully qualified rowing umpire!

Alana would like to thank her family for all their continued love and support.

Matthew McElhinney                                                                                                                                    

Matthew was born and lives in Belfast.