CONTROVERSY RAGES ABOUT A RAINBOW POPPY. IN MY OPINION WHAT WE HAVE IS UNIVERSAL AND ALL INCLUSIVE, RED FOR THE BLOOD SPILT, BLACK FOR THE WIDOWS AND A GREEN LEAF, WHICH SHOULD POINT AT 11 O’CLOCK, FOR THE EARTH WE LOVE.
ON YOUR FEET!
Grand Opera House
Belfast until Saturday 16th November
On a cold, wet, windy night there is nothing nicer than sitting in a warm cosy theatre and being entertained by a vibrant, enthusiastic, professional cast who sing and dance their hearts out. Add to that the story of a woman from Cuba with a good voice as a young girl who transforms before your very eyes into the diva that is Gloria Estefan. On Your Feet! in the Grand Opera House is a treat for those who love this Latin American music and plenty do as it was a full and expectant house. The buzz of excitement was like a bee caught in a jam jar and in the few quiet times in the story, the air conditioning added something weird to the background ambiance.
Gloria Estefan met and married her husband Emilio when she was beginning her career, he nurtured her talent and together they made the Miami Sound Machine famous. In March this year the husband and wife team were awarded the 2019 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song so this is a current story well told. The cast is international, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sicily, and the Caribbean all dancers who swing their hips and make you want to be up on stage with them, they have rhythm and wide smiles so the whole production is infectious. Lead roles are filled by Philippa Stefani and George Ioannides and Karen Mann is a favourite with the audience as the granny who gives Gloria so much encouragement to fulfil a career as a singer.
From the word go the brilliant orchestra tune up behind a curtain, bongos and trumpet blasting out of stacks of speakers. Search lights penetrate the auditorium, tension rises, the curtain falls to the ground and we’re off. It’s not often the lighting design stands out as a major part of a production, it’s tremendous, spots, curtains of light, ever changing colours against the simple but effective set, a big shout out to designer Kenneth Posner and his team who set the mood throughout the show.
The end of Act One was a surprise. The cast came dancing into the audience and invited us all to join in one of Gloria Estefan’s most popular numbers, Conga. There’s drama too when the singer is badly injured in a tour bus crash with her recovery and return to the stage after a year of gruelling physiotherapy.
If the opening was special the ending was extra special. The stage was a glittering musical scene, surpassing Strictly Come Dancing, and as the title of the show demands, we were on our feet in an instant delighted to share the joy of this Cuban American artist who has sold 115 million records round the world and I suspect will gain a few more fans in Belfast this week.
Performances 7.30 p.m. with matinees on Thursday 2 p.m. and Saturday 2.30 p.m. More details at www.goh.co.uk
For Faithful Friends
Question: What’s the connection between a tiny new born lamb, a kitten, a white rabbit and a dog called Isabelle.
Answer: Lisa McCausland
She explained: “When Isabelle had to have minor surgery I couldn’t bear the thought of her wearing that hard cone round her neck. Like so many dog lovers I considered it was a frightening thing for an animal to have to endure, after all you can’t explain that it’s for their own good and to stop them worrying at the wound. So I began to think of possible substitutes.”
Typical of this enthusiastic woman, she pushes the envelope, especially when she was working in Los Angeles as a talented artist employing unusual materials, a light polyfiller type base and acrylic paint and a pallet knife. The abstract paintings she created were equally sought after when she returned home with a sellout first exhibition in the Tom Caldwell Gallery on Belfast’s Lisburn Road.
But finding a solution to Isabelle’s problems was on her mind and she started thinking, researching and planning.
So Lisa went back to school.
As a mature student at The University of Ulster, she studied alternatives, drafted designs of body suits for dogs, materials, colours and marketing. She discovered bamboo socks in Marks and Spencers, a perfect fabric for her needs, soft, breathable with antibacterial properties and with the addition of lycra the garment retains it shape, important as just as a baby likes to be held secure in swaddling clothes, animals too feel safe when wrapped firmly.
At university she achieved a First Class Honours in product design and ended up with a series of prototypes which she took round dog shows. Lisa called her project DogEase and she went on to gain a Master’s Degree in design having produced an invention which has revolutionised the lives of animals going through the trauma of operations and wound recovery however she points out that apart from the medical aspect DogEase has other benefits.
“This cosy coat calms an animal who feels anxiety, the dog on a long journey in the car, elderly pets with arthritic limbs or as proved recently, when fireworks are going off around the neighbourhood. It’s designed so the pet can go to the loo without having to take the coat off, basically it’s like a second skin.” Or a second set of feathers as in the case of Blondie who was attacked by a fellow hen in the henhouse! It’s not called Animal Wound Protection for nothing.
All very well having a viable product but marketing is another hill to climb however as far as business acumen is concerned Lisa McCausland has a commercial background working in the family car hire business; she successfully approached Invest NI and researched companies and organisations who would be interesting in grant aiding her new company.
She hand made 60 prototypes and asked Cedar Grove veterinary surgery to ‘test drive’ them before she went to Olympia Exhibition Centre to the London vet show. She sent emails to relevant outlets and opened a web site. As interest built, she researched where the suits could be manufactured en masse – 3000 units at a time – and found what she wanted in Portugal.
Then, five years ago she officially launched her business. Interest was immediate with her first order coming from Australia. Following a visit to a vet conference in Virginia USA, a great dane and an Irish wolfhound were sporting DogEase jackets. Extra small to extra large and in the region of £16 to £30, all in a gender neutral colour of russet brown so any wound seepage will not be readily noticeable, although washing is easy. Lisa points out that these are not fashion items but medical coats which have done away with the dreaded cone collar that upset dogs and their owners so much.
A terrific example of a dog lover determined to make life easier for her pet and in only a few years building a business which is reaching round the world giving comfort to animals of all shapes and sizes.
Special Donegal Weekend
This year sees the 20th anniversary of Dunfanaghy Writers’ Circle which has been held in Arnold’s Hotel since 1999. Hundreds of men and women have discovered a talent they didn’t know they had and have gone on to develop a skill which has opened up a rich seam of pleasure and friendship. In recent years this has resulted in three books, collections of short stories and poems on a wide range of topics. Some have had work published under their own names and now enjoy a new challenge in their lives. Under the tutelage of journalist and author Alf McCreary the 2019 session takes place this weekend. There’s always next time for advice on writing for books, magazines and importantly researching and writing about family history and so recording living history for families in the future. Also, and vital to any writer, how to market your work. Sounds like a good weekend for £295, two nights, two gourmet dinners, two light lunches and coffee breaks in the glorious setting of Donegal! If you’d like more information about the next date, contact Arnolds Hotel at 00353 749136208 or enquiries@arnolds.com
That’s it for today, will catch up during the week and post some more on Wednesday. Family for lunch and not a thing in the house – except a wonderful fruit loaf my son-in-law brought with him from south of the border. In future will he have to declare these sweet meats? What about the leg of lamb he also rocked up with! The days of smuggling are not too far away, my uncle used to bring lamb up from Dublin hidden under the bonnet of his car – it was cooked by the time it got to Belfast!
