Lecturer in Voice
Mary has been a professional performer, director & teacher for more than 25 years. She is a full Member of Actors Equity, IFTA, (Irish Film and Television Academy), and the Teaching Council of Ireland. Mary has been a member of the Advisory Board of Feis Maitiu Corcaigh since 2007 and a member of the Board of Examiners at LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) since January 2008. She brings a wealth of experience to her teaching practice.
As a singer, her repertoire has been diverse, spanning Operetta & Oratorio, Early Music & Spanish Canciones to Musical Theatre & Pop! One of Mary’s first forays into professional performance, as a teenager, was as a singer/harpist/actor/dancer at Knappogue Castle, Co. Clare, under the guidance of renowned Jazz musician, Jim Doherty (Musical Director), Pat Laffan (Director – Formerly of Abbey Theatre, Dublin) and Pat Conway (Choreographer RTE).
As a UCC student, Mary was Musical Director of Fermoy Musical Society for 3 years and presented 5 productions: two revues, The Merry Widow, starring Cara O’Sullivan, Annie and The Student Prince. While still a student at UCC, Mary was part of the group which represented Ireland at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Mary worked for RTE television and radio for 8 years as a presenter, reporter and actor. She worked in Young Peoples Programmes, presenting a Saturday morning show, Mary & The Professor in Scratch Saturday, The Fanta Roadshow with Andy Ruane, in Dublin and Our House, from Cork. She operated and voiced the rock chick puppet, Neptuna, in the popular & edgy weekly ‘Pajo and the Salty Frog’. Other work for RTE included, music & magazine style programmes, Back to the Kingdom – Fleadh Ceol na hÉireann finals, with Pat de Buitléir, a weekly radio arts programme, ‘Stage and Screen’, and work as a theatre reviewer.
Mary has directed many plays and musicals. One of her favourite productions featured former student, now an internationally renowned actor, Michael Fassbender, in the titular role of Oedipus Rex, at the Firkin Crane Theatre, in 1996.
A highlight of her work was when she premiered a contemporary song cycle by the late John Gibson, based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
Mary has performed as a soloist at the NCH, Dublin and internationally. Over a four year period, Mary and renowned guitarist & lecturer, Jerry Creedon, embarked on a very successful tour with a recital programme featuring Spanish repertoire, including the Sephardic Songs and canciones by Lorca, among others.
Most recently, Mary delivered a Lecture Recital: Gilbert & Sullivan – Satire and Parody, at AFR, UCC and Racial & Cultural Stereotyping in Musical Theatre and Film, 1905 – 1958, (Lehar, Kern, Rodgers & Hammerstein) at O’Riada Hall, UCC.