William Byrne"s Navan Resurrection!

This weekend sees the return of a Navan performer to sing and entertain at the Newgrange Hotel for the first time in almost 12 years. William Byrne who for many years sang in the pubs and clubs of Meath and beyond is making a welcome return to Ireland to perform in the Newgrange Hotel. Although a regular visitor from London, this is the first time William has decided to sing in Navan for quite a while. William began singing from his early teens and fronted many local bands. However it was with nine-piece soul outfit - Mr Bigstuff; that William was to leave his mark as a singer. William then seized the opportunity to star in Navan Musical Society"s 1995 production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar". This mesmerizing musical was to transform musical theatre in Navan and catapulted William onto a larger stage with performances on RTE such as numerous proms seasons with the RTE Concert Orchestra, 'Go For It", Eurosong "96 and a visit to the Waterford Festival of Light Opera with St Mary"s Musical Society with their 1996 production of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat". These performances were crowned with his successful audition for the revival of 'Jesus Christ Superstar" in London"s West End. From there, William took over the leading role and toured with the show throughout the British Isles and made a triumphant return with the show at Dublin"s Point Theatre. More recently, William has become a father to two children, Omar and Tallulah. He founded AFB Productions, a bespoke entertainment company, with his wife, Andrea and they continue that relationship with the performing arts through the business they run together. 'It seemed like the natural thing to do once our days on the stage ended,' Willie says. 'Andrea is a natural to move into the business side of entertainment having 10 West End productions to her credit including 'Mamma Mia", 'Our House" and 'Joseph".' She has worked alongside such stars as Diana Ross, Robbie Williams and most recently worked on X Factor"s Rhydian"s album. Willie adds: 'I stopped singing for quite a while and recently a job came up and Andrea suggested that I do it. At first I thought, 'Yeah, no problem," but as the date drew closer, I became quite nervous and experienced problems singing; I couldn"t hit all the notes, was tiring quicker but these problems were due to the fact that I had not sang professionally in almost four years. 'Now, it is just great to be back to be back doing something that I love. I perform predominantly swing and Rat Pack. I saw posters for a concert given by Michael McGoona at the Solstice and this is what inspired me to enquire about getting a gig in Navan. Irish people love their music and I want to get back to doing a gig in Navan. I have a great set of music for those who attend; I am hoping lovers of swing and Rat Pack will pop down for a drink and enjoy the music. The set will include classic hits from Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr, Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jnr and Tony Bennett.' The return concert is on Saturday 4th July at the Newgrange Hotel, Navan.