Playboy the Musical

Adapted by Diarmuid de Faoite & Justin McCarthy, with music by Justin McCarthy, this was a staged version of the award-winning Radio Musical broadcast by RTÉ last year. The play itself is set in a 1950s radio studio complete with narrator, an ensemble of actors, a band, backing singers and lots and lots of live sound effects. It explores the idea of a radio musical as a theatrical event because what you see and what you hear can be very different things.

Set in the 1950’s, a group of radio players and session musicians gather to record The Playboy Of The Western World as a musical before a studio audience. The Music, all original, spans every genre, think Goon Show, meets the Rocky Horror, meets Garrison Keilor.

With BAI & RTE support it was broadcast as an RTE Drama on One in December 2015.  It went on to win bronze at the New York Festivals World’s Best Radio Program Awards and was nominated for a PPI Award.

This is a contemporary reimagining of a classic Irish play.  The storyline remains true to the original but is condensed through song and narrative to highlight the drama and wealth of language. The characters, in both spoken word and song, are reimagined as a mashup of contemporary musical icons.

The music, all original, evolves through the last 50 years of popular music (from country and western to heavy metal).

Milestone have co-produced a number of tours tours of this production, by liaising with venues, facilitating production requirements and managing press and marketing requirements. Most recent was a national tour in 2021 in re-imagined outdoor spaces – in IMMA Dublin, Muckross House Killarney, and Coole Park.