The Claire Byrne Show
Killian Donnelly starring in Les Miserables The Arena Concert Spectacular
30 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What role does Killian Donnelly play in Les Misérables?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Yeah, I owe Les Mis a lot. As Cameron McIntosh says, we all owe that little Gazette girl an awful lot. It's been 2007 is when I first joined. And I joined as a swing. Now, I've been in and out of the show since then. I've gone off to do other things. But Les Mis has always come back because as you age, there are other roles for you to play. So I probably started when I was 23.
just covering ensemble roles.
So a swing is somebody who can do anything?
A swing is someone who, there's 15 male roles in Les Mis and a swing would cover 10 of the ensemble male roles because in a 12-month contract you get four weeks holidays, you get sick days and with 10 male roles they can go off sick. So I have to step in and play that role.
But when you got that job, you thought, I'm never going to get a chance to be on stage.
Never going to be on stage. I'm just going to be in the wings. I was never off. And it was the best training because I always tell this joke, this thing, this story where my mom would always be like, who are you on for tonight? And she doesn't know any of them. I'd be like, oh, I'm Kofarak tonight. And tomorrow I'm Bruggen. And then the matinee, I'm Comfair. And she's like, oh, wow.
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Chapter 2: How did Killian Donnelly start his career in musical theatre?
Hasn't a clue who they are. Oh, well, has to know. Well, she's there reading Victor Hugo's novel.
And I wonder, because you mentioned your parents and I just, I'm thinking about you heading off to London with your demo and your CVs and trying to get an agent and everything. Was that scary?
Very, but exciting. It was nervous. There was a lot of nerves, but the idea... So 2007, there was no... It wasn't like you just had a social media page or a profile. You still had a hard copy, a CD and your CV and you knocked on doors. How old were you then? 2007, I was probably 23, I think. Right. 23, 24. And I knocked on about 20 agents' doors.
There was a book called Spotlight, which had musical theatre agents. And one met me and they said, look, there are auditions for Les Miserables in three weeks. I'll get you a first round. If you get a recall, I'll sign you. So I got a recall. So that agent signed me. And then going through about six, seven rounds over the next six months, I get Les Mis. And what I learned was Les Mis loved music.
that I was, I had, it sounds so big-headed of me to say, I had this natural talent, but I know that came from growing up in the Amdram background here in Ireland, because you go on for an Amdram show, but you're also lugging set in one, and you're sewing the costumes yourself. Going into Les Mis, I was there going, how can I help? What can I do? I would sing, I would act.
I would ask questions about the characters and they loved this. I wasn't professionally trained.
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Chapter 3: What does being a swing in a musical entail?
I wish I was because I struggled learning music. I struggled with dots of music and learning notes. How high does your voice go to, Cillian? What's your top note? I was like, I don't know.
You couldn't answer those questions.
Couldn't answer any of it. But Les Mis allowed me to grow and they saw potential and nourish that. And they liked that I was untouched by like a musical theatre course.
So how did you find your niche then when you were growing up? How did you find out you were good at this?
My mam sang, my dad sings and they play music. Mam used to collect a musical theatre magazine that went out weekly and it would have demos of Phantom of the Opera and she'd play them all around the house. And my dad, when I was 11, gave me a CD, Colin Wilkinson's Stage Heroes.
Oh, incredible.
Yeah. And track seven, I believe, was Bring Him Home. And I went, what, what is this? What is this? And he goes, that's a show called Les Miserables, Bring Him Home. And then that just brought me into that world. And what, 10, 11 years later.
They were sort of steeped in it, if you like. So it was in the house it was in. But you didn't think of going and studying then? No, it wasn't.
It wasn't an option at the time. in Ireland, we didn't have musical theatre courses. Now we have a few of them. There's one in Cork, some in Malahide, but you had to pick up everything and move to London. So it wasn't, I didn't think for a second that you could study musical theatre or acting. So yeah, so no, it wasn't something that I thought I'd be able to do.
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Chapter 4: How did Killian prepare for his role as Jean Valjean?
And by the time you get to do it, you're kind of warmed up already.
How old are your children?
Six and two, Tighe and Fia.
But they might be bringing things home to you as well in the house. Absolutely, yeah.
First time Tighe went to a Montessori, he just came back with snot and we're like... And I'm having to say, I'm on stage tonight. But yeah, you just manage it.
It's just interesting how difficult a common cold makes your life. You know, I get a common cold. It's annoying for the listeners because I sound snuffly, but you just keep going. You can't.
It is. I always think of radio presenters because they will be, you'll be talking and if you need to cough, you can turn your head away from the mic. But I can't do that in the middle of a show or in the middle of a song. And it's the worst thing is when you get a frog in your throat and I go, there's three minutes of a song ahead of me now. I just need to go. And I'm fine.
But no, I need to keep going with the frog. So yeah, it sounds like the most simplest, simplest thing. But when you're in front of a thousand people in London or with this arena tour, 15, 20,000, you can't turn your head and cough. So you just really have to look after yourself.
There's no, when I first moved to London, it was going out and meeting friends and doing the show and having the best time. And now I love being in bed before 11 o'clock. Les Mis will finish at half ten I'll get home at about midnight and then I try and get myself to sleep I get as much sleep as I can Do you find it hard though to go to sleep at a performance like that?
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