by Aoife McLoughlin
VOICE of Ireland television talent show star Niall O’Halloran performed for one of his musical idols who discovered the young Limerick singer through his Twitter account.
Niall was discovered by New York based musical composer Scott Alan through a tweet linking his performance of Scott’s song “Again” from the recent #YesToEquality concert in Dolan’s warehouse.
Scott has written for a number of Broadway stars and has been attracting the likes of Indina Menzel and Cheyenne Jackson with his songs. The talented composer tweeted Niall on Friday of the May bank holiday asking him to get in touch.
Speaking from London, Niall said: “I thought it was a fan page or something.”
“I was heading for bed on Friday night and I logged into my Twitter only to see a notification from the one and only Scott Alan, a man who is an icon in the musical theatre industry. The notification said that I should contact him through email, as he wanted to speak to me.
My palms were shaking and I attempted to compose myself before mailing one of my musical idols.”
Niall flew to London the next day where he was asked to perform as a guest at Scott’s residency concert in St. James’s studio alongside veteran stage actress Cynthia Erivo (star of Broadway’s The Colour Purple) and a host of musical stars and performers.
Scott is also interested in Niall re-recording some work he had written for other stars.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, Niall said he has already been approached by talent agent Oxford Adams Associates who represents X Factor winner Sam Bailey.
“I am going to meet with them to see if it’s the right fit. I have a lot of advice and support from friends over here. It’s just been so cool to meet one of my idols and all the other stars over here like Sam Bailey, Eva Noblezada, who stars in Miss Saigon, and Oliver Tompsette.”
Niall stayed in London with former college-mate and friend Lucy Jones, the Dublin born opera singer who was runner-up in this year’s The Voice UK.
In a bid to pursue his dream career, the 23-year-old is set to move to London in late July. To help finance the move, Niall will host ‘The Next Stage’ benefit concert, which will feature a range of local and national performers at the University Concert Hall on Friday, July 3.
