That was in 1951. A mostly Irish cast was assembled, along with what was then the Radio Eireann Light Orchestra, for a few performances of The Rose of Castile , by Michael Balfe, a nineteenth-century Irish composer with Wexford connections, before tiny audiences. Forgotten works are often forgotten with good reason. Doctor Tom was the amateur artistic director until 1966. Again, productions vary.
Every year there seems to be one good, one painful, and one brilliant production.
Sad to say, it was terribly funny, if not for the singers or the director. Musical standards have always been remarkable at Wexford. No artist goes to Wexford for the fees, but it is a career showcase, and the management is always looking for good singers who aren't yet megastars. The bright light of the early seventies was the delicious Martiniquan soprano Christiane Eda-Pierre, and of the early eighties the Russian baritone Sergei Leiferkus, who made his Western debut at Wexford before going on to international stardom. That was also the year when most of the tenors in the chorus were energetically gay.