Arts and Entertainment
Usher’s Island, “Usher’s Island” • Sports analogies can be pernicious yet so tantalizing. So when you hear of a band with an “all-star line-up,” it’s tempting sometimes to think of a team loaded with Most Valuable Player candidates, seemingly destined... Read more
A family story can be a precious heirloom, passed among relatives and across generations. But sometimes, the story is so inspiring, so compelling, it has to be shared with the wider world.
Such is the case for Brighton resident Louise Bichan, a fiddler... Read more
Ten men, in four boats, coursing through The Grand Canyon. This is “Men On Boats,” the fearless, comic adventures of an actual 1869 expedition by ten volunteer explorers who set out to chart The Colorado River.
SpeakEasy Stage Company is presenting the... Read more
Yes, they’re called “Makem and Clancy,” but they’re not that Makem and Clancy. Not exactly, anyway. Rory Makem and Donal Clancy – the sons of, respectively, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy – are justifiably proud of their families’ storied place in Irish... Read more
Sharon Shannon, “Sacred Earth” • There aren’t many people who can pull off making an accordion-centric album featuring a waltz from a 1905 operetta; Shetland fiddlers playing a New England-style reel; an innovative, Berklee-educated cellist; African... Read more
The women in the songs on Lindsay Straw’s latest album don’t possess super powers or wear skintight, flashy costumes, nor do they have secret identities or high-tech headquarters. But they’re heroic nonetheless, relying on pluck, wit, cleverness, strength... Read more
Karen Murphy has traveled the globe as a much-in-demand actress and singer, who has appeared on Broadway and in major touring companies, has performed in concert and presented her own highly acclaimed one-woman show, “Torch Goddess.” Happily, her career... Read more
Philip Maguire doesn’t lay claim to being a philosopher, but then again he does seem to have a pretty good angle on what it takes to be part of a suddenly popular Irish music family band that features two teenagers and one pre-teen.
First, you don’t so... Read more
Some 70,000 fans jammed into Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on the night of Sun., June 25, to hear for themselves that U2 has still got it. Bono & Co., who are on a 17-city tour commemorating the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree album, didn’t... Read more
Van Morrison, “Keep Me Singing” • It’s the 36th studio album for the one-time window cleaner from Ulster – now into his eighth decade – and the first one in four years containing new material. Eleven of the songs on “Keep Me Singing” are Morrison’s... Read more
July will see some celebrated female Irish/Celtic acts come to Greater Boston and vicinity:
• Mary Black, one of Ireland’s most influential and accomplished female singers, will bring her “Last Call” tour to Eastern Massachusetts this month with two... Read more
Hanneke Cassel has now spent half her life in Boston, and it’s fair to say she has made the most of that time: anchoring Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton sessions in and around the city; performing at venues such as Johnny D’s, Somerville Theater and Club... Read more
Last summer, Broadway’s Ciarán Sheehan delivered a heartfelt performance as Billy Bigelow in “Carousel” at Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham. This month, the acclaimed Dublin-born actor, singer, producer, healer returns to Reagle from July 6-16 to star as... Read more
For fiddler Tommy Peoples, a key figure in the late 20th-century Irish music revival, Boston was a relatively brief but enjoyable interlude in a long and productive career.
A Donegal native, Peoples was an original member of The Bothy Band, appearing on... Read more
J. Michael Winward is a man on the move, literally, an award-winning independent dance artist and choreographer with an active month ahead of him. When not creating new work for himself and others, he maintains a busy private teaching schedule, is... Read more
LehaneDennis Lehane, the Dorchester native who writes for print, television, and the movies, and who calls his own work “a bizarre bastard child of pulp and literary influences,” launched his latest novel, “Since We Fell,” last week.
His decision to write... Read more
“We started very young, so this vocation has really colored who and what we are,” says Ten Strings and a Goat Skin fiddler Rowen Gallant (left), shown with brother Caleb (center) and Jesse Périard at a concert during the trio’s recent New England tour.... Read more
Kate Rusby, “Life in a Paper Boat” • In her two decades-plus career, Rusby has never shown an inclination to stay with the tried-and-true. Hailed for her interpretations of traditional songs, she incorporated contemporary material – from songwriters as... Read more
Jennifer Ellis as FrancescaIn Robert James Waller’s best-selling novel “The Bridges of Madison County,” a lonely war bride in 1960s Iowa has a three-day affair with a handsome National Geographic photographer who came to town to shoot the community’s... Read more
His work is of world importance – literally so. At a recent screening of the documentary “The Peacemaker” at Plimoth Plantation, the personal struggles of Padraig O’Malley are presented on a parallel track with his labors to bring conflict resolution to... Read more
