A spooky look at the small town of Eastwick

By David Flynn

Athlone Musical Society has a continuing reputation for staging imaginative shows that keep audiences seduced with new plots, music and dance routines.

This year, The Witches of Eastwick goes even further than that, with all of the above, and characters’ passionate encounters mixed with comedy and darkness, through a base of stunning singing voices adding to an underlying atmosphere of danger and the supernatural.

The female lead characters of the musical are played by three local performers who provide amazing chemistry on stage when they act or sing together or apart, or alongside the male lead, who is also a force of nature in his performance.

Linda Murray, Petrova Mulvey and Cherise O’Moore play three Eastwick women, Alexandra, Jane and Sukie respectively. First a novel, by John, it later became a hit movie, starring Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer. The male star of the movie was Jack Nicholson, who played the mysterious and hedonistic Darryl Van Horne, who the lonely women have somehow willed into their lives, as the perfect man. The man playing the plum role of Darryl on the Athlone stage is singer and actor, Art McGauran!

The setting of the musical is a small Peyton Place style town in the US, where everyone knows everyone, and where passions lurk in the hearts of the three women, who mostly live uneventful lives with their family and friends.

When Darryl mysteriously turns up, he manages to ingratiate himself into the lives of each of the woman and he seduces them separately and as time goes by, the women obsess over the man, and move to his large cosy house, where they all live together in a group situation – to the scandal of the local community. However, this scenario is destined not to continue when Darryl makes enemies with the local busybody, Felicia (played by Jay Origan), which leads to further comedy and tragedy.

It’s worth mentioning the couple: Felicia and her husband, Clyde, who was previously having an affair with Sukie. Felicia and Clyde have some good scenes together, especially a showstopper later, where Jay Origan lights up the stage in a compelling scene with actor, Jim Maher, who plays Clyde.

Love doesn’t fully run smoothly for the young couple in the musical – Michael and Jennifer played nicely by Eoin McGlynn and Eva Glynn. There is comedy and drama concerning both characters and Darryl in different scenes throughout the show.

Jonathan Kilduff is always an interesting and watchable performer, and here he plays the weird but comic character, Fidel, who seems to be in awe of Darryl as well as being his servant.

The world of Eastwick and the lives of its citizens is overseen by Athlone Musical Society’s director for 2026, Dominic Reid, who does a splendid job with that creation. The director worked well alongside choreographer, Kori Kilduff, who had her dancers and performers in great poses throughout the music numbers.

While the music may seem unfamiliar at first, each of the numbers are catchy and produced excellently by Ger Madden, musical director and his orchestra of keyboards, bass, percussion, reeds, trumpets and trombones.

The Witches of Eastwick is an enjoyable Athlone show with superb performers, particularly the triple female leads, male lead and the dancers who were a treat to watch, alongside the supporting cast.

However, it’s important to say there is some adult humour, actions and language, and some swear words in some parts of the show.

It's also a show which uses background footage and artistic scenes of houses and land in the fictious town of Eastwick. The footage marries well with the props and furniture that comes out and about on the stage, helping set the scene and the action of the dramatic and comic musical.

The costumes worn by characters depicts where they are at each point in their story. The women dress more stylishly as they are romanced by Darryl and the townspeople’s clothing is also very authentic and well-designed. Darryl’s costume-changes must be seen to be believed. He wears some flashy clothes, but nothing will prepare the audience for his red, shiny shoes.

The massive team of volunteers who together created this year’s show deserve to be commended, and they just might see some AIMS awards later in the year, possibly for some of the singers and/or choreography.

The Witches of Eastwick is running nightly at the Dean Crowe Theatre until Saturday, March 7. Tickets on the Dean Crowe website.