august 2009 new musical

‘Mercy Madonna of Malawi’– African dance musical.

The true story of the girl Madonna left behind goes beyond the tabloids. A modern day African 'Annie'. The moral maze when celebrity and poverty collide. '...an emotional rollercoaster. Unmissable' (Malawi Times).

Edinburgh Festival Fringe, St George West Church 3:00PM Aug 9 to Aug 22nd 2009

 Great fun… These boys have a great future ahead of them. The Martians have landed.’ Scotsman Review

'What fantastic performers the Kielty Brothers are' ... '(Cameron Mackintosh).

Bridewell Theatre Company in Association With City of the Dead Walking Tours presents

‘Greyfriars Twisted Tales ‘  

'The Martians resurrect the history of Edinburgh with the sole intention of murdering it all over again. '

Edinburgh festival 2nd aug - 25th Aug at MUSICAL THEATRE @ George Sq

 they used the spooky atmosphere of 'Greyfriars' Cemetery Edinburgh to help spin their musical tale....  

'“Their personalities really shine through. The physical comedy is very funny and to be honest this is without doubt one of the best shows at this years festival.’ Deadline Press and Picture agency

5 Star REVIEWS:

'Consistently funny and with quality songwriting, this fast paced madness was pure entertainment'

5 stars Three Weeks

‘ Great fun… These boys have a great future ahead of them. The Martians have landed.’  

This is the first year the terrifically talented combo behind this show, The show they’re performing in a Portakabin in George square should make some of the acts at bigger venues hang their heads in shame, while they eat their hearts out with envy... an inspired mini Second world War musical that’s a cross between ‘The producers and Oh What A lovely War... it’s still great fun – as is the rest of the show. It’s frequently very funny. The Martians have landed. Scotsman 2008 

WOW great audience reactions!!. Such catchy tunes that I have stuck in my head, full of fast paced delicious dry humour and clever (twisted!) takes on human foibles and superstitions, love of dogs and Scotland! (Invisible SkyGods, Reformation, Nessie, Not A Valley Anymore) Highlight was Gerry as Greyfriars Bobby (dog with black socks on his ears) And the totally out-of-context Mary Poppins meets Hitler sketch – a pure musical Monty Python! Mocking war is good – it is ridiculous! The Martians will eat heads.

The Martians: with spirit and energy they use humour and pathos to tackles life's absurdities and tragedies - to create their bold strokes of out-of-this-world expressions.  The Martians tunes have a clever, playful way with words - with memorable fun melodies. Brother James Kielty and third Martian Houston also write for their off-the-wall and upbeat musicals. Written by Gerry and John Kielty. P Keightley Aug 2008

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    ' The SUNDOWE'

  Eden Court theatre Inverness Scotland

  written by John, Gerry & James Kielty

  the 'Sundowe' was produced by Eden Court and the Cameron Mackintosh

 The storyline centres on The Martians themselves, as their street busking is STOPPED by vampires, the local council and the return of dead souls. The musical is part comedy, part pathos - with references to modern Scottish politics, Greyfriars Bobby, street busking and ancient Scottish history.'

REVIEWS:  “Ok it’s off the wall, but it is infectiously fun. Loved the music…”   “ …it would be fun to stage and perform – would be enjoyable to watch and hear.”   “ Lyrics are great – funny, poignant…”   “imaginative…”

“Hints of Rocky Horror and Forbidden Planet. Aimed at under 30’s – which is good.”

“Interesting off-the-wall story…”  “The music was good –variety of themes and styles.”

I'm always surprised by how short the story travels in a musical, it's almost like they're afraid to go outside one room. We go to hundreds of different places, we cross times - some of it is set 2,000 years ago - and it never sits still."

SUNDOWE’ ....... the martian’s 'Actical' oR 'Musical' with no 'Dancing', will be performed in late November,

THE MARTIANS HAVE BEEN RECORDING NEW SUNDOWE CD IN A GLASGOW STUDIO - MAY 2007

“The musical... that the Martians won the Highland Quest for a New Musical competition - set up by Cameron Mackintosh... the man famous for musicals about Cat's and Frenchmen?

"It's not a musical... musicals have dancing in..." snarls John... "And it's not a dancical... it's an Actical. It's the first of its kind... It's an actical... do you hear me? Cause if you don't..."

"Sundowe's coming along nicely... We've recorded an entire soundtrack in America with me doing all the voices...

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John has written and performed 2002 - 2006 with former Martian David Sneddon...they started the Martians together in 2001. Check out David's NEW EP 'WHITE NOISE' released JANUARY 2007

' SUNDOWE' IS VICTORIOUS!!

John, Gerry and James Kielty from Edinburgh were celebrating their victory last night as winners of The Highland Quest Search for a New Musical.

Highlights from their winning entry and all five of the final musicals were professionally produced and performed before a capacity audience at the MacPhail Centre in Ullapool in July 2006.

The showcase was the climax of an eighteen month search for a new musical that would appeal to a contemporary Scottish audience. Attracting entries from across the world The Quest has been funded by The Scottish Executive and The Mackintosh Foundation.

' Sundowe' the story of vampires terrorising the city of Edinburgh, will now be developed into a full length musical and will become the opening show for the newly built second theatre at Eden Court where it will enjoy a three week run before embarking on a four week Highland tour as part of Highland 2007:

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ODE to the MARTIANS!

I caught them busking 

On a summer afternoon

Singing songs they had written 

Lots of fine tunes.

(I thought I might have heard before)

They SHOO their audience -

Run into the crowd

Their enthusiasm is infectious

Sometimes even loud!

They can be scary and fun

What an odd combination!

But then... they are NOT human

So many of us RAN!

'I remember the first time I saw them playing in Edinburgh, they were amazing....great music, great voices, great bunch of guys, with an amazing sense of humour.

I couldn’t wait to see them again... and trust me...I did'  Fiona

The Martians band were formed 7 years ago in 2001

by singer-songwriters John Kielty & fame academy winner (2002) David Sneddon.