OF ALL the iconic buildings in Belfast, the now derelict Floral Hall stands as a monument to the life, love, loss and music of the showband era. A new play, written by Brenda Winter-Palmer and developed by Antoinette Morelli and The Karma Theatre Company, takes audiences back to the so-called golden era of the showbands of the 1960s.
Keep Telling Me Lies, a title taken from the lyrics of The Drifters Showband and Joe Dolan hit Pretty Brown Eyes, is the story of two Belfast women as they reminisce about the lives they used to lead.
Set against the backdrop of the crumbling Floral Hall and driven by the music of the showbands, they recall the fateful night they met their musician future husbands there.
Old grudges resurface and sparks fly as they reminisce about the lifestyles of their globetrotting spouses who experienced fame and fortune while the wives they left behind struggled to bring up their young families, working all day and lonely all night.
Presented by David Hull Promotions, the story is 14 years in the making. The idea stemmed from childhood memories of Belfast actor Antoinette Morelli, whose father Tony Morelli was the lead singer in The Witnesses Showband. While they enjoyed huge success in Ireland and further afield, most famously singing alongside Elvis at an hotel in the Bahamas, his wife and family back home endured much hardship.
Contrary to the perceived glamour of the showbands, Antoinette recalls how the promised money that would be sent home “never seemed to arrive”.
“People think because your father is in the showbands, your life was glamorous. That is so far from the truth. We moved house 26 times and would line up to squat during the Troubles. We got help from my dad’s father Johnny, who ran Morelli’s ice cream shop, and mum’s parents, but back in those days [it was a case of] you make your bed and you lie in it.
“Mum really didn’t have much of a life, and as Dad got older he regretted not being present when we were little,” adds Antoinette.
While a fictional amalgam of stories, Keep Telling Me Lies is heavily inspired by Antoinette’s parents' story as well as by that of Newtownards woman Muriel Day, who was viewed as the 'queen of the showbands'.
All three shared candid interviews with Antoinette, revealing a stark look of the sacrifices women made to let their men fulfil their dreams.
Putting the show together has been an emotional rollercoaster for Antoinette, especially following the passing of both her parents in 2012 and 2018.
“There’s a real heartbeat in the centre of this story – a story that needed to be told,” adds Antoinette, who first voiced the idea to writer and director Brenda Winter-Palmer, when she was her drama tutor at Queen’s University.
Having left academia behind, Brenda, who was a founding member of the all-female Charabanc Theatre Company in the 1980s, took up the baton in writing the play four years ago.
It’s a subject close to Brenda’s heart as well – her uncle Mickey Connolly worked alongside Jim Aiken promoting bands and dances, while her mum worked as a cloakroom attendant at the Ulster Hall, where her dad often helped out with tickets.
“I would only have been about seven or eight and I remember my parents coming home and playing records and jiving in the living room. It all seemed so glamorous and I guess that awakened a feeling in me to become a performer,” says Brenda, who has fond memories of hiding out on the balcony of the Ulster Hall when the Clancy Brothers performed there.
She also recalls the sights and smells of the era: “I remember my Aunty Eileen having her hair stiff with lacquer and getting her hair washed in our little sink with borax.”
Keep Telling Me Lies aims to bring those memories of warm summer nights at the Floral Hall and the smell of Brylcreem back to life, as well as highlight how women struggled in the very male culture of the showbands.
“It was a difficult time for women – causal put downs were part of everyday life. It was also difficult for girl female singers to survive, touring with a group of men and having to change in cowshed or go to the toilet in a bucket.
“With Keep Telling Me Lies we believe we have a play that will make you laugh, cry and want to sing along.”
Music is central to the story and audiences can look forward to live musicians playing well-known showband tunes such as Save The Last Dance for Me, She Wears My Ring, The Wanderer and Candy Store.
Also providing pre and post-show entertainment at some of the performances will be evergreen singer Muriel Day. She was friends with Antoinette’s parents and also sang alongside Tony when he was a member of the Dave Glover Showband.
“The band line-up changed regularly, but the time Tony was in it and Gerry Rice was playing clarinet, flute and sax was the best. Everyone knew Tony as well as the Pope. When he sang ballads, such as Love Me Dearest, it was so captivating," says Muriel, who was delighted to help Antoinette with research for the play, highlighting how women performers struggled to get by.
“This is a poignant tale, but with such wonderful music. There will never be an era like it again. People who came through the 60s and 70s were blessed with some of the best music in the world,” says the 82-year-old.
She recalls how dressing rooms, mirrors and toilets were scarce while touring Ireland’s parochial halls.
“We played some bona fide ballrooms that actually had a ladies toilet, where we got dressed in. The Floral Hall was so beautiful. It was so packed I often wondered how people found room to dance.
“I had my own beauty case, so at least I had a mirror but getting ready, but the marquee venues were the worst. I remember a sign for 'ladies', that led us to bushes. It could be raining so hard you just had to try to get into a corner and not step on anything nasty in your high heels," she laughs.
Muriel went on to marry band leader Dave Glover and was shocked when her new husband sacked her on the day they returned from honeymoon.
“He never wanted me to sing with anyone else and I was basically left at home and out of work. It was depressing, especially when you knew people enjoyed your performances,” recalls Muriel, who in 1969 became became the first woman and first person from Northern Ireland to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Her performance of Wages Of Love encouraged Tom Jones’ and Shirley Bassey’s manager Ivor Miller to offer to represent her but it wasn’t to be because her husband tore up the details as he just did not want his wife working.
“He was a very domineering man, but when I look back at it, the experience made me a lot stronger,” adds Muriel, who went on to enjoy success in Canada with her band Muriel Day and The Night Squad.
:: Keep Telling Me Lies is at the MAC, Belfast, May 9-12 (themaclive.com).
