Tag Archives: tops of the town

Another classic Tops programme – this one from 1963 and it’s the turn of Snowcream vs Waterford Grocers and Drapers. Click below for a look.

Another vintage programme for the archive – this time the local rounds and the 1963 competition. This is ACEC vs Sack & Bag. Click below to have a browse.

More from the Port and Docks 1992 Tops show – this time the previously unseen (on this page) Finale. [AdScene-A]

Here is the opening from the 1992 Port and Docks Tops of the Town show fronted by the wonderful Greta Rochford.

Here is some classic comedy from the 1989 Tramore Tops with some legends on display including Denny Corcoran and Nicky Cummins !

Another programme from 1963 – this time Clover Meats vs Waterford Glass. Click on the image below to view.

How things changed from the early days of Tops – the 1995 rules booklet is one of the last sets of rules published as the competition was well in decline at that point. Click on the image below to have a browse.

Another classic Tops programme – this time from 1982 and Raytex produced by Patsy Sheridan vs Clover produced by Michael Grant. Click below to browse. 1982 – Tops Local Rounds – Raytex vs Clover

Another video from the 1992 Port & Docks Tops of the Town show – this time it’s Cavatina featuring a Hazel Farrell on flute.

Here is another of the ever popular Tops programmes – this one from the 1980 local rounds between Waterford Glass and Banks and Finance. Banks and Finance were to go on to go the whole way to the national final in 1980 which was televised. 1980 – Waterford Glass vs Banks and Finance – Programme

Here is a hilarious comedy scene from the 1994 national Tops final.

It is hard to believe it is almost 30 years since Tramore took to the stage against An Post in the National Quarter Finals of the John Player Tops. Here is the programme from that particular performance. Click Below to have a read of the programme. 1992 – Tramore vs Dunnes Stores – National Quarter Final – Topshttps://waterfordtheatrearchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/1992-National-Quarter-Finals-Tramore-An-Post.pdf

Featuring a legendary line up here is a hilarious vintage comedy scene from the Waterford Glass 1983 Tops production.

Here is the opening to the Waterford Crystal Tops of 1990 – Heading for the Future. Produced by Denny Corcoran.

Here is a vintage Tops of the Town programme from the local final of 1973 where Waterford Crystal with “Cheaper by the Dozen and a Half’ took on the Teachers with ‘Here Today – Gone Tonight’. Click below for a browse. 1973 – Tops Local Final Programme – Waterford Glass Vs Teachers

Back to the day when Waterford Glass took on Henry Ford Ltd from Cork in the national quarter finals of the Tops. Click below to browse the Show Programme. 1979 – National Quarter Finals – Waterford Glass Vs Ford – Show Programme

Here is a great little scene from the 1980 Tops of The Town Banks & Finance show featuring the legendary Des Manahan on guitar with a host of performers singing and playing with him.

Here is the show programme from the 1992 Tops – Tramore vs the Port And Docks 1992 – Tramore vs Port And Docks – Show Programme

These documents are always popular – handwritten adjudication from the 1981 tops – Waterford Crystal. Click below for a read. 1981 – Tops Adjudication – Waterford Crystal

Here is the Tops Of The Town Local Rounds programme from 1990. Click below to have a read 1990 – Tops Of The Town Local Rounds Show Programme

Here is the 1994 National Final Programme from the last time that Waterford won the national Tops title. It was of course Waterford Crystal vs Woodville. Click below for a read! 1994 – Tops Of The Town – National Final Programme

From the 1990 Tops here is Waterford Crystals Dance scene. This was recorded at the national quarter final stage.

Here’s another one of those classic Tops programmes. This time it’s from 1989 and the national quarter finals in Dundalk where Tramore travelled to compete with Clara on the night. It was the end of Tramore’s adventure that year. 1989 – National Quarter Finals – Tramore vs Clara

Here is the show stopping Skid Row / American Dream from the 1993 Tramore Tops produced by Bryan Flynn. This one is fronted by Liam Butler.

Here is the show programme from the 1990 Tops Quarter Finals that took place in the Theatre Royal in Waterford featuring ‘A Scoop for NTV’ from Nokia. 1990 – National Quarter Finals – Nokia

A great comedy scene from the 1986 Nokia tops featuring John Corcoran, Denny Corcoran, Ann McGrath and Boola Power.

Have a look at the brilliant John Hayes nailing a brilliant impersonation of Tommy Cooper from the 1992 Port & Docks show.

From the Ray Ban Tops in 1993 here is ‘Tell me Its Not True’ featuring a fine chorus!

Another one from the Nokia 1989 show from our recent stream – this time it’s the finale.

Here is the finale from the 1989 Tramore Tops of the Town entry that we showed recently on our stream.

For today it’s back to 1989 again and it’s the ‘Paint Your Wagon’ scene from the 1989 Tramore Tops .

Huge interest in seeing this one again as it seemed half of Lisduggan was in it.. here is the full ‘Ballroom Of Romance’ scene including the dancing at the start. Taken from the St. Pauls Tops 1989.

A very popular item from our recent stream was this scene from Nokias 1989 Tops show featuring ‘Big Time’ , ‘I Won’t Send Roses’ and ‘We Both Reached For The Gun’. Enjoy 8 minutes of nostalgia!

Here is the final to the 1983 Raytex Tops of the Town show. Conducted by Patsy Sheridan the scene starts with him singing ‘In The Navy’ from the pit and goes on to feature Paddy Galvin as a soloist.

Here is the gorgeous 5 part harmony group from the 1993 Ray Ban Tops with the classic ‘Is You Is’.

More Tops goodies today – the brilliant opening from the 1994 Waterford Crystal Tops show fronted by Raymond Collins.

Another classic Tops scene – this time the ‘Big Deal’ dance from the 1987 Tops from the Gaiety Theatre.

Here is another classic from the 1989 St. Pauls Tops – the 42nd street scene.

Here is the Java Jive quartet from the 1984 Clover Meats Tops show.

Time for a bit of comedy today… it’s ‘The Ballroom Of Romance’ from the 1989 St. Pauls Tops show. A lot of St. Pauls on display this week!

Fronted by Hazel Kelly (Tebay) here is the Blood Brothers scene from the 1993 Ray Ban Tops, produced by Michael Grant – also featuring Damien Squell Walshe, Paul Greene and Brenda Giles.

Here is the opening scene from the St. Pauls Tops , 1989 – the Viking Scene.

Here is the finale to the St. Pauls Tops Of The Town 1989 show. It features Brian ‘Mod’ Kennedy on lead vocals.

Here is Skid Row from Ray Bans 1992 show featuring the ‘Voice of Waterford’ himself the late great Billy McCarthy.

Here is the Irish scene from the 1990 Waterford Crystal Tops fronted by Liam Molumby.

Here is the opening to the Ray Ban Tops show from 1993 that made it to the national quarter finals in Wexford.

Here is the Nokia version of ‘Les Miserables’ from the John Player Tops competition, 1987.

Here is the finale from the Waterford Crystal Tops 1990 – ‘You Are The Light’ from Metropolis. This version is recorded in Athlone and not the Theatre Royal.

These old handwritten reports are priceless. Here is the report from the 1979 Waterford Glass Show – handwritten by Michael Twomey. Click below to have a read. 1979 – Tops Handwritten Adjudication Report

Here is the programme from the 1989 Tops show when Tramore travelled to Dundalk for the national quarter finals. Click below to have a read. 1989 – National Tops Quarter Final – Tramore vs Clara

From the opening of the 1989 Tramore Tops Of The Town Show.

Here is the programme from the national final of Tops in 1974, the year of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. There’s a nice bit of reading in it as well as the details on the show. Click below to have a browse. 1974 – National Final Tops Programme – ACEC vs Cork Examiner

Here is the ‘Trial’ scene from the 1986 Glass show featuring ‘Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat’ fronted by Gary Power.

Here is the slideshow from our June Bank Holiday weekend Stream – I’ve had a lot of requests to see this one again.

This from the final of the 1987 Nokia ‘Tops’ show produced by Denny Corcoran featuring Enda Jackman and John Corcoran.

This is the centrepiece scene from the 1980’s Banks & Finance Tops show that reached the national final in the Gaiety Theatre. Des Manahan leads the charge.

Here is the spectacular opening from Bryan Flynns 1993 Tramore Tops show fronted by Keith Dunphy – Fantasy Street.

This from the 1992 Port and Docks Tops of the Town show – The Dockendales!

Here is the brilliant finale to the Ray Ban ‘For Your Eyes Only’ 1993 Tops entry.

Some photos from a different angle of the 1993 and 1994 John Player Tops entry from Tramore and Waterford Crystal. All taken from an audience perspective. Thanks to Jane Kennedy (Fraher) for these! Click on the link below to view 1993 / 1994 Photos from John Player Tops

Back 46 years to 1974 and the National Semi Final of the Tops of the Town competition – the ACEC were on the way to another national title with ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ as the main scene. The link is below for the 1974 programme. 1974 – Tops Of The Town National Semi Final Programme

Did you ever wonder what the letter looked like telling groups details of what comes next when they got through the Tops preliminary rounds? Wonder no more – have a click below. This is 1981 and the letter to Waterford Crystal (Group leader Dando Kelly) 1981 – Tops Letter Sent to Qualifying Groups

Timely at the moment considering what’s coming up next weekend! Join Nicky Cummins and Sean O’Kelly for a couple of minutes to see what was topical 27 years ago. The lads are hilarious as ever!

Way way back to almost 50 years ago today and Des Keogh was the national Tops adjudicator. I have come across a number of these adjudications – and they are always interesting. This is a countrywide report. In the course of it he discusses the ACEC show, singling out the Ballyhassey Group, the Groucho Marx section and Martin Flynn for …

Happy Bank Holiday Weekend! Heres another one of the lovely vintage videos taken backstage and around the Theatre during the John Player Tops. I’m not 100% on it’s origin, but there’s loads of familiar young faces in there. Have a look!

Way back to our first video from 1981 today and the central ‘Xanadu’ scene from the 1981 Glass tops. It was a long 10 minute pivotal scene in the middle of the production.

Here’s a blast from the past – 43 years ago the final of the Tops of The Top Final was won for the third time by the ACEC. No video exists (to our knowledge) but here is the audio. Have a listen – it will bring back some good memories for sure.

The brilliant family from the 1993 Tops of the Town Tramore show that reached the televised final in the Gaeity Theatre. Using songs from the Pyjama game to a Chorus Line it was a show stopper. Enjoy.

Featuring the legendary Ritchie Collins leading the troops is the 1984 Clover Tops opening which started with “No Business Like Show Business’.

Loads of familiar faces here from Ray Ban, Tramore and Port and Docks. Have a look and see how many young faces you recognise! There’s quite a few! Originally from the News & Star. 1992 – Tops Press Photos

Todays video comes from the Ray Ban Tops show of 1992 and its an extract from Little Shop Of Horrors featuring Skid Row (led by Billy McCarthy), Little Shop Of Horrors and Mean Green Mother from Outer Space.

To round off the weekend 25th Anniversary here is a special episode I put together with the help of Bill Stafford, Paul Browne, Karen Hearne, Ben Hennessy, Richie Hayes and Seneiva Magill , with thanks to David Flynn for a special appearance. Enjoy!

Continuing our Tops Anniversary weekend – here is the Irish Scene from the John Player Tops national award winning show from 1994.

Some more comedy from the 1994 Tops of the Town national winning show. This time from Davy Sutton and Nicky Cummins as Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton.

A huge part of any Tops show was the comedy team. Here is the ‘Flintstones’ sketch from the 1994 national award-winning show. Enjoy!

For the weekend that was in it back in 1994 the RTE Guide ran a feature for ‘Tops’. Here it is to peruse. 1994 – Tops Feature – RTE Guide

Another Tops clip – this time from Ray Ban again – 1992. The Finale of the show started with a Blues Brothers ‘Gimme some lovin’ lead by Terry ‘Scol‘ Grant and led into ‘Blow Gabriel Blow’ led by Hazel Tebay. Another classic scene.

A throwback today and a first appearance from the Ray Ban 1992 Tops of the Town show – featuring ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ scene. Produced by Pat McEvoy

Here is the video of the Tops Of The Town final 1994 Chaplin scene. No further description is necessary. #genius

This is the opening from the Tramore Tops 1992 production produced by the late great Bryan Flynn. This show got to the national quarter finals. The opening featuring songs from Company and Godspell was fronted by Carrie Crowley and Keith Dunphy.

I love these old Tops Magazines – this one from 1985. The other 2 in the archive are here and here. As usual, there are loads of photos from around the country as well as Waterford and interesting articles including a Waterford section. Enjoy! 1985 – Tops Magazine

In 1986 Waterford Glass reached the televised final of the Tops only to finish as runners-up. Here is the show programme from the quarter-final performance in Limerick vs the ESB group. 1986 – National Quarter Finals – Waterford Glass vs ESB – Show Programme

Featuring such songs as ‘Kisses of Fire Burning Burning’ and ‘Come on Baby Light My Fire’ – it’s easy to see the common theme in the opening to this particular ‘Glass’ show. The video quality isn’t great, but you can still sense the energy from the stage and make out some familiar faces! Enjoy.

In the 1970’s the ACEC dominated Tops both locally and nationally. 1978 saw the company present a 2 hour special show in the Theatre Royal to celebrate this success. Here is the show programme and on it’s pages is a who’s who of Waterford Tops in the ’70’s. 1977 – ACEC Celebration Show – Show Programme

Today it’s back to the classic 1987 televised final and the opening from the Waterford Glass show which featured heavily ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’. Some familiar faces and names in this video. Enjoy

This scene features the legendary Gary Power as Dr. Dolittle from the 1990’s Nokia Tops of the Town entry, produced by Michael Grant. It also has some familiar faces popping up along the way including Davy Sutton on his Ostrich! Enjoy.

To add to our collection of handwritten original adjudications we have this Waterford Glass one from the 1981 national quarter finals. Have a read to see what the adjudicator rated this production which did not progress beyond this point! 1981 – National Quarter Finals Handwritten adjudication

Some more Tops nostalgia here – the opening to the 1982 Waterford Glass Show.

Back 40 years to 1978 today and a programme from the first local rounds of the Tops Competition that year. It’s the turn of Slieverue and Waterford Crystal. 1978 – Tops Local Rounds – Slieverue v Waterford Crystal

From the ‘Tip Tops’ series live from the Gaiety stage here is the ‘Silent Mikes’ comedy mime routine from the 1987 Nokia production. Spearheaded by the legendary Eddie Cody the Silent Mikes had a cult following back in the late 80’s / early 90’s.

Normally all 4 shows in a year wouldn’t be put into the one programme- but 1989 was an exception to the rule. Have a browse of St. Paul’s, Tramore, Nokia and Clashmore and their cast and crews. 1989 – Local Rounds Programme

More than one or two legends in this one – taken from the RTE Tip Tops Programme in 1987 which was filmed live on the Gaiety Stage. Enjoy as it starts with Denny Corcoran and Anne McGrath and goes into a mad musical ensemble …..

The opening of the 1986 John Player Tops National Final. Waterford Crystal – produced by Michael Grant.

Here is the 1990 programme from Wexford when Nokia reached the national semi final stage 1990 – National Quarter Finals – Nokia – Programme

A show programme today from the 1980 Local Rounds – Waterford Shopping Centre vs Waterford Glass. 1980 Local Rounds – Waterford SC Vs Waterford Glass

Today it’s back to 1990 and Nokia’s ‘We’re In The Money’ finale from their 1990 Tops show directed by Michael Grant.

Here is the show programme from the 1979 Tops local competition – this time it’s Banks and Finance Vs St. Pauls . Have a browse. 1979 – Tops Of The Town Local – Banks and Finance vs St. Pauls

Another classic video from 1992 and the Tramore Tops entry that reached the national quarter finals. Featuring ‘Ain’t it Good’ – from Children of Eden.

Back to 1987 today and a show programme from the National Tops competition where Waterford Crystal marched to the National Final. Produced by Michael Grant it featured an epic Les Miserables scene. Have a look. 1987 – Waterford Crystal Vs Cork Teachers & Students – Show Programme

It’s time for another Tops video and we are back to 1986 and Nokia, produced by Denny Corcoran. This time Denny chose a ‘Swing’ opening with a song from A Chorusline added in for good measure.