Some of the Kilkenny Greats of the Watergate Theatre
By Gerry Moran
I took photographs of performances in the Watergate Theatre for almost a period of twenty years. With my trusty little camera I took snaps of the good and the great who performed there. One of the best nights I ever had, however, was when I performed with The Kilkenny Greats (the title of the show) What the hell I was doing with The Kilkenny Greats I’m not entirely sure. I don’t sing, tell jokes, do magic tricks or play an instrument! What I actually did was recite some humorous verse and the reason I was cajoled into performing was because I was contributing regularly (short quirky bits) to Mike Murphy’s morning radio show on RTE and had a bit (emphasis on bit) of a profile. I’m still embarrassed about it. It was, however, an honour to be in the company of The Kilkenny Greats and for sure my camera went into overdrive that night. And then, of course, there were the kids bubbling, bursting with excitement as they performed in pantomimes, concerts and musicals. Mentioning musicals – yes, that’s my daughter Lizzie, all of five years old, playing the part of Gretel in The Sound of Music. To quote a review of the show: ‘Little Lizzie Moran, playing the part of Gretel (she alternated with Rachel White) stole the hearts of the audience as she popped out from that ‘clock’ singing ‘cuckoo.’ Yours truly may not have been great on the stage of the Watergate but little Lizzie Moran, my daughter, was.
