In what was a typical June Rodger-esque moment, the funny girl met her husband Peter after having thrown a banana at him during one of her shows.
“I was playing a trader from Moore Street and the song was Get Your Cheap Bananas [a parody of Gimme Hope Jo’anna]. I used to have bananas on stage and I always had one that was gone off, because the joke was that when you went to Moore Street, they always gave you a few bad ones and you would only realise by the time you got home.
“Of course, I threw a banana out and Peter got it. He hasn’t eaten a banana since I can tell ya, I put him off them straight away,” laughs June heartily.
Most would consider the encounter to be a match made in comedic heaven, but the woman herself recognises that there were other forces at play; Peter was in fact brought to the show by her cupid cousin. Initially, June thought Peter might perceive her to be like her stage persona, but he soon found out that wasn’t the case.
“He’s very quiet Peter is, he’s a real gentleman. He probably thought: ‘Am I going with a lunatic or what?’. I think he realised then afterwards that it wasn’t like that. Married 21 years this weekend, hand on heart, never a cross word,” jokes June with a mischievous glint in her eye.
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
Doing what she does, you might expect June to be loud, excitable and the centre of attention. Upon meeting her she is the exact opposite – relaxed, calm and happy to be out of the limelight. Off stage she and Pater lead a relatively quiet life at their home in Firhouse, Co Dublin.
“I love what I do, but I love having a normal life too. Peter and I have a normal life, we don’t go to the opening of a fridge door,” she explains. “Even if I was invited to an opening night, I probably would prefer to go another night when it’s not all that hustle and bustle.
“When you are out there on stage, you are doing your thing, but you couldn’t come home and be like that. I don’t think we’d be still married, we’d probably be divorced. We love our house, our garden, our doggies, our birds, our frogs and all that.”
Christmas show
Even now, with her annual Christmas show on the horizon, it is down to the peace of their mobile home in Curracloe, Co Wexford, that June will go to finish learning off her script.
This year the June Rodger’s Christmas Show, after many years in the Red Cow, will move to a different venue not far away – Taylors Three Rock in Rathfarnam. The show takes place across a number of nights over the Christmas season and the change, June feels, is a good one. Taylors is just off the M50 for people “travelling up from the country”, as many of Irish Country Living’s readers would be.
Preparations for the show have been underway since March and are now kicking up a notch. The finishing touches are being put to the many costumes June will wear, which along with characters like Jacinta O’Brien and Oliver Bond, never fail to make the audience guffaw.
“What I try to do is keep variety alive and people still want variety. In the 70s and 80s, variety was huge. Then it went zump, but people want to go out and be entertained,” explains the performer. “In my show I will probably have about 15-18 costume changes. Visually, if the costume is funny, if they are laughing before you open your gob, you’re half way there.”
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
June has a couple of connections to Rathfarnam. She used to go to dances in Taylors during her younger years and her father also grew up on a pig farm there. “Actually in the 70s and 80s I used to dance there, when I had hips that I could actually swivel,” she chuckles.
“It was called Taylors Grange at that stage. You used to try and make sure you got off with a fella who had a car, because it was a long walk from Rathfarnam back to Tallaght at night time.”
At the time when June grew up in Tallaght, she says it was a rural village. “When I lived in Tallaght village, which was a farming community, we used to sit on the wall counting the red and blue tractors going past.”
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
During her childhood and teens, June was always a messer in school. She was definitely not a stage school kid and never even considered that entertainment lay in her future. Her flair was spotted in her 20s while taking part in the John Player Tops talent show with her then-employer Fujitsu, having never been on stage before.
Many years later, now celebrating her 30th year in show business and heading into her 60th year herself, June is still going strong as ever.
“People have been very loyal to me over the years, if they keep coming, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. Once they still enjoy what I’m doing, I’ll be happy to do it.”
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
Evening shows are on select dates from 30 November-31 December. Afternoons shows are on Sunday 9 and 16 December. Dinner and a show costs €55, show only costs €30. For more information and booking see www.junerodgers.net.
Read more
You might know "Jacinta O'Brien"; but who is the real June Rodgers?
Five minutes with... June Rodgers
In what was a typical June Rodger-esque moment, the funny girl met her husband Peter after having thrown a banana at him during one of her shows.
“I was playing a trader from Moore Street and the song was Get Your Cheap Bananas [a parody of Gimme Hope Jo’anna]. I used to have bananas on stage and I always had one that was gone off, because the joke was that when you went to Moore Street, they always gave you a few bad ones and you would only realise by the time you got home.
“Of course, I threw a banana out and Peter got it. He hasn’t eaten a banana since I can tell ya, I put him off them straight away,” laughs June heartily.
Most would consider the encounter to be a match made in comedic heaven, but the woman herself recognises that there were other forces at play; Peter was in fact brought to the show by her cupid cousin. Initially, June thought Peter might perceive her to be like her stage persona, but he soon found out that wasn’t the case.
“He’s very quiet Peter is, he’s a real gentleman. He probably thought: ‘Am I going with a lunatic or what?’. I think he realised then afterwards that it wasn’t like that. Married 21 years this weekend, hand on heart, never a cross word,” jokes June with a mischievous glint in her eye.
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
Doing what she does, you might expect June to be loud, excitable and the centre of attention. Upon meeting her she is the exact opposite – relaxed, calm and happy to be out of the limelight. Off stage she and Pater lead a relatively quiet life at their home in Firhouse, Co Dublin.
“I love what I do, but I love having a normal life too. Peter and I have a normal life, we don’t go to the opening of a fridge door,” she explains. “Even if I was invited to an opening night, I probably would prefer to go another night when it’s not all that hustle and bustle.
“When you are out there on stage, you are doing your thing, but you couldn’t come home and be like that. I don’t think we’d be still married, we’d probably be divorced. We love our house, our garden, our doggies, our birds, our frogs and all that.”
Christmas show
Even now, with her annual Christmas show on the horizon, it is down to the peace of their mobile home in Curracloe, Co Wexford, that June will go to finish learning off her script.
This year the June Rodger’s Christmas Show, after many years in the Red Cow, will move to a different venue not far away – Taylors Three Rock in Rathfarnam. The show takes place across a number of nights over the Christmas season and the change, June feels, is a good one. Taylors is just off the M50 for people “travelling up from the country”, as many of Irish Country Living’s readers would be.
Preparations for the show have been underway since March and are now kicking up a notch. The finishing touches are being put to the many costumes June will wear, which along with characters like Jacinta O’Brien and Oliver Bond, never fail to make the audience guffaw.
“What I try to do is keep variety alive and people still want variety. In the 70s and 80s, variety was huge. Then it went zump, but people want to go out and be entertained,” explains the performer. “In my show I will probably have about 15-18 costume changes. Visually, if the costume is funny, if they are laughing before you open your gob, you’re half way there.”
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
June has a couple of connections to Rathfarnam. She used to go to dances in Taylors during her younger years and her father also grew up on a pig farm there. “Actually in the 70s and 80s I used to dance there, when I had hips that I could actually swivel,” she chuckles.
“It was called Taylors Grange at that stage. You used to try and make sure you got off with a fella who had a car, because it was a long walk from Rathfarnam back to Tallaght at night time.”
At the time when June grew up in Tallaght, she says it was a rural village. “When I lived in Tallaght village, which was a farming community, we used to sit on the wall counting the red and blue tractors going past.”
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
During her childhood and teens, June was always a messer in school. She was definitely not a stage school kid and never even considered that entertainment lay in her future. Her flair was spotted in her 20s while taking part in the John Player Tops talent show with her then-employer Fujitsu, having never been on stage before.
Many years later, now celebrating her 30th year in show business and heading into her 60th year herself, June is still going strong as ever.
“People have been very loyal to me over the years, if they keep coming, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. Once they still enjoy what I’m doing, I’ll be happy to do it.”
June Rodgers. \ Jill O'Meara
Evening shows are on select dates from 30 November-31 December. Afternoons shows are on Sunday 9 and 16 December. Dinner and a show costs €55, show only costs €30. For more information and booking see www.junerodgers.net.
Read more
You might know "Jacinta O'Brien"; but who is the real June Rodgers?
Five minutes with... June Rodgers
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: