ALL Good things come to those who wait: almost five years since its sold-out run at the Lyric, punk rock musical Good Vibrations is finally about to return to the stage in Belfast.
With original director Des Kennedy back at the helm, a new and improved version of the hit production based on the Bafta-nominated movie adaptation of Belfast punk provocateur Terri Hooley's autobiography is about to open at the Grand Opera House: 'Good Vibes' 2.0 promises new songs, new choreography and a few new faces in the cast too, including new leads Jayne Wisener (Sweeney Todd, Six Degrees) and Glen Wallace (The Secret, Hollyoaks).
"It's great to finally be back in the rehearsal room - and it's been a long time coming," enthuses Belfast-born Kennedy, who is enjoying being back at home to revisit the 2018 hit written by Colin Carberry and Glenn Patterson.
"When we did this last time, which is almost five years ago, there was such an appetite that we completely sold-out. We had put on an extra show because the audiences were loving it so much.
"If a show goes well, you would always hope to bring it back. And this show was supposed to come back three or four times, but just kept getting cancelled because of Covid. I was in New York, right before the pandemic, having meetings with Jimmy Fay and Bronagh McPhilly [Lyric executive producer and producer] talking about bringing it to New York - and a day later the world shut down for two years.
"So, it's really great to be finally able to bring it back for the audiences that loved the last time - and new audiences didn't get a chance to see it because it was sold-out."
Happily, the Belfast punk musical will finally cross the Atlantic this summer when Good Vibrations makes its US debut at the Irish Arts Center in New York. Given the show's ongoing and growing success, I wondered if the director could pin-point its appeal.
"Everyone loves an underdog," responds Kennedy.
"Everybody loves a singular unique character like Terri, who charts their own course and dances to the beat of their own drum.
"Our play starts with Terri DJing to empty dance floors, because there was a ring of steel around the city centre due to the Troubles. But this one man believed that if, I play music, people will come.
"It starts with an empty dance floor and ends with 1,000 people coming to see a concert he's put on at the Ulster Hall."
For those lucky enough to catch Good Vibrations during its original run, it seems that the 2023 version is still worth seeing, as Kennedy and co are currently hard at work creating a fresh take on the inspirational story of one man's mission to bring music back to Belfast - and the bands he helped to make that happen.
"Obviously, we've got the show that worked before, so we're not starting from scratch," explains Kennedy, whose recent theatre credits include directing Piaf at the Gate Theatre in Dublin and being international associate director on the West End hit Harry Potter & The Cursed Child.
"But we're definitely coming back differently: there's new songs, new choreography, it's a completely new thing. We're being completely creative in the [rehearsal] room and coming up with lots of different stuff.
"We have brand new actors, who are going to bring new performances and different takes on these characters. I'm learning as much from them as they are from me.
"So it will feel similar to the old show, but it will have a new energy and a new life - and anybody that saw it before should come again, because it will feel like a brand new thing."
As Kennedy explains, while there are fellow Good Vibrations veterans in the mix both on stage and behind the scenes, including OG Belfast punks Brian Young and Greg Cowan from Rudi and The Outcasts ("they're working closely with us to make sure that we honour what they were trying to do," the director explains), the introduction of new leads ensures that this production is definitely a 'remix' of what went before.
"In a way, it feels like 'getting the band back together' - but then some of the actors are brand new," Kennedy tells me.
"I've always been a fan of Glen Wallace and Jayne Wisener, so it's a real privilege to get to work with them this time around. And it doesn't feel like there's a difference between the 'new' people and 'old' people - after the first week of rehearsal, it felt like we were one big happy company."
As it happens, Kennedy has worked with Wisener before, on the BBC NI series 6 Degrees, which ran from 2012 to 2016 and featured the Ballymoney-born actor alongside future Derry Girl Jamie-Lee O'Donnell and Hope Street star Niall Wright.
"That was actually the first telly I'd ever done," he recalls.
"I was on directing traineeship with BBC Northern Ireland and NI Screen where I learned how TV works. Jayne was one of the leads on 6 Degrees, so I got to work with her on that and sort of see how TV is put together."
While the director is fully engrossed in getting the revamped Good Vibrations on its feet and ready for audiences to start enjoying from next week, it won't be too long before he's back in 'wizarding world' with Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, ensuring that each of the West End hit's international spin-offs meets the high standards required of the globally-successful franchise.
"We have six productions around the world," explains Kennedy, "so normally, I'm sort of travelling between all six productions - always on a plane, always jet lagged.
"I'm never in one place for more than four days, so it's just amazing to be back home, in Belfast and just to be here for the next six weeks with nowhere to be, nowhere to go."
However, as mentioned, Kennedy will finally be taking Good Vibes international next month, bringing Belfast punk to New York at Manhatten's Irish Arts Center for a three-and-a-half week run which kicks off on June 14.
"What I love about that is, Belfast is known for two things - the Troubles and Titanic," enthuses Kennedy of the show's upcoming New York run.
"I think there's something great about telling another story, which isn't about that. While the Troubles is around in Good Vibrations, we're saying, 'no, there's all this other stuff as well', like punk and Terri Hooley and music and the vibrancy of the people.
"Belfast isn't just all about our politics, we're so much more than that. So to get to tell a story like this on the international stage is really thrilling. And I feel really privileged to do it."
:: Good Vibrations, May 9 to 20, Grand Opera House, Belfast. Visit goh.co.uk for tickets and showtimes.
