Golden age of Strabane cinema to be remembered through music and song

THE bygone days of the Commodore will be remembered through music and song when the Music To Your Ears (MTYE) group take to the stage at the Alley Theatre next month.

The group will perform at the venue on Wednesday, April 9, with their latest production 'Saturday Night at the Movies' recalling the golden age of the cinema in Strabane.

Music from the big screen will be accompanied by photographs from the Cooper Collection and video footage from the early 20th century.

The Commodore Cinema was built on Main Street in 1935 by Herbert Cooper, who also previously built the Palindrome Cinema which later closed in 1937, and now sits as a bingo hall.

The event will showcase a film without volume, with the group playing songs such as tThe Drifters, The Beatles, Elvis, Step and Wolf, other rock musicians as well as some country artists - making a night for all to enjoy.

The MTYE group was founded in 2017 and is aimed at older men aged 50 plus to combat male loneliness and mental health.

It currently consists of 25 men who meet twice a week in the Alley Theatre and it offers tuition on instruments, singing, drama, performance skills and more.

The workshops are tutored by local musicians such as Eamon Lynch, Terry McCafferty and Eurovision star, Mickey Joe Harte, promoting self-expression and positive wellbeing.

Recently MTYE were granted funding for the National Lottery, which has helped boost their programme further.

Group member, John McGinley, highlights the importance of the group's influence in terms of mental health allowing people to perform for the first time.

"We welcome with open arms and they seem to enjoy it," he said.

"Anyone who comes to Music to Your Ears always comes back, because they look forward to it.

"For people who haven't performed, it gives them something to aim at, and I suppose they like the ability to do something you haven't done before.

"The quality of the group that we have, they're top class musicians."

The show, which regularly sees a full-house is an unmissable event with early booking advisable.

Tickets are on sale now via the Alley Theatre website: www.alley-theatre.com

Or, call the Alley Theatre Box Office on 028 71384444.

If anybody has any photographs of the Commodore Cinema or anyone who worked in the cinema is asked to contact John McGinley on 07751097521.