Passing of Nenagh's Gerry Synott

The death occurred on Thursday of last week of Gerry Synott, a native of Nenagh who went on to become the legendary boss of the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.

Gerry, aged 78, who still has relations in the Nenagh area, actually started out his working life in The Nenagh Guardian, serving as an apprentice in the printing department.
He spent his young life in the Ballycommon area, and he hurled at juvenile level with Kiladangan. He was a member of the Kiladangan team that defeated Borrisokane in the inaugural North Tipperry Under 17 championship in 1957, lining out at left corner forward.

Despite rising to great heights in the entertainment industry, he never forgot his Nenagh roots and he periodically returned to his native area and visited the offices of this newspaper on a number of occasions to meet old friends and to catch up on the evolving changes in the local media sector.
Gerry had a passion for drama and entertainment from an early age and he made apperances on the Nenagh stage in amateur productions. He was a member of the Gaelic League in the town and the old Gaelic League Players and performed with them in the early 1960s.

He went on to produce numerous high profile shows in the Olympia Theatre over almost two decades where he was Managing Director.Gerry was a loyal friend and promoter of some of the top names in the entertainment business and many were there to show their appreciation of him in a special tribute concert held in the Olympia in May 2014, including Dickie Rock, Red Hurley, Rebecca Storm, Sonny Knowles, Mary Byrne and The High Kings.
He was described as a "legendary producer" in his 18-year reign at the helm of the famous Dublin theatre.
Gerry produced such shows as 'Aspects of Love' with superstrar John Barrowman and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' with international star of 'Les Miserables' fame, Colm Wilkinson.

The Nenagh man created jobs and kept Irish singers, dancers, actors, directors and musicians in work for many years.
He has been described as "the producer with a heart", a hands-on charmer who put so much love into every production he did.
The charismatic impresario, instantly recognisable as the man in the black trilby hat, was known for taking some big theatrical gambles, including spending one million Irish pounds on his 1990 four month run of 'West Side Story', which included stars from London and New York. Gerry also cast 92 children in his acclaimed production of 'Bugsy Malone' and discovered a 15-year-old unknown, Samantha Mumba, casting her as the lead in one of his pantomimes.

In the early 1980s Gerry changed the way pantomimes in Ireland were seen by modernising the musical content, thus making them more relevant to both adults and kids, which is a tradition that can be seen today.
Some of Gerry's others productions included Ireland's first ever production of 'Blood Brothers' with Rebecca Storm; 'Children of a Lesser God' which was so critically acclaimed that it transferred directly into London's West End after its phenomenal success in Dublin's Olympia Theatre; 'Grease' with 'Neighbours' star Craig McLaughlin, 'Keely & Du' with Oscar winner Louise Fletcher and Helen McCrory,'Oliver', 'The Rocky Horror', 'The Sound of Music', 'Annie', starring a young Susan McFadden, 'Noises Off', 'The Rocky Horror', 'Lady Chatterys Lover', starring "Olivia Tracy", 'Sikulu', 'The Wizard of Oz', with Brian McFadden and an unknown Alex Sharpe who went on to star in 'Celtic Woman'; 'Run for Your Wife' with Father Ted's 'Father Jack', Frank Kelly; 'The King And I', 'Side by Side by Sondheim', with Senator David Norris and many many more!

During his successful reign, at the old Dame Street theatre Gerry achieved so much artistically, and all without grants or assistance from the Arts Council or government bodies. He was also responsible for the removal of VAT on theatre tickets in Ireland.
Sadly in 2012 Gerry was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease. Despite this, the man famed for his trilby hat never lost his energy or drive though he faced many challenges with his condition. A famous son of Nenagh if ever there were one.