Theatre career brings Buncrana woman Niamh Gaffney to Broadway

Buncrana woman Niamh Gaffney has just finished opening a show on Broadway working as a sound designer alongside Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne in New York.

A graduate of the North West Regional College in Derry who set her sights on a career in theatre sound design while at Strand Road campus, she has been working on Cabaret at the KitKat Club on Broadway as the UK associate sound designer. 

Last week the show was nominated for numerous Tony awards including Best Sound Design in a Musical.

She previously studied the Level 3 Diploma, and HND in Performing Arts at the college, before moving on to work in professional theatre sound at theatres across the West End, for productions such as Jerusalem, Les Misérables and a variety of Immersive Productions such as Secret Cinema.

Niamh got the opportunity to travel to New York this year to join the UK Creative Team to bring the Olivier Award-winning production of Cabaret to Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre.

She said: “I was working in New York for five weeks during the duration of technical rehearsals and previews through to opening night which is an intensive process.”

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Niamh said having a Performing Arts college so close to home was the perfect way to launch her career in theatre.

She added: “NWRC provided a great course in Theatre which includes performance and production, there was little to no courses in Ireland and I was very fortunate to live nearby. Performing arts has a variety of modules in theatre, from Dance to Lighting with both practical and written assignments. This course helps you get closer to finding your

specialty and develop. I started as a performer focusing on dance/musical theatre and realised in my HND I wanted to switch to production as I fell in love with the work.

 “The course is a great stepping stone to developing as a performer/technician, especially to get the necessary skills/understanding of the theatre world and an opportunity to build a

portfolio for Drama School. Drama school interviews/auditions are highly competitive, and you need to have a strong understanding and stand out.”

Niamh is now working on her next project assisting on the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang UK Tour alongside co-worker Gareth Tucker the production’s sound designer.