Arts and Entertainment
It seems like only yesterday the international Irish singing and dancing phenomenon “ Riverdance” first blazed to life. Since opening in Dublin in 1995, the production has dazzled more than 25 million theatergoers across six continents. The milestone... Read more
The Actors’ Shakespeare Project is closing out its season with the masterful comedy of manners, “The School for Scandal.” From the pen of Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (adapted by Steven Barkhimer), the play weaves a witty tapestry examining... Read more
Bob Bradshaw: “I think I’ve gotten out of my own way more when it comes to putting a song together.”The Bob Bradshaw story just keeps getting better, and his music’s doing pretty well, too.
Bradshaw, a singer-songwriter from Cork, began his musical career... Read more
Here’s a look at some of the Irish/Celtic music and dance happenings around the Greater Boston area this month:
• The Burren Backroom series will feature The Truckley Howl, a trio of local fiddler/guitarist Nathan Gourley with concertina player Mairead... Read more
Cat and the Moon members (L-R) Elias Alexander, Eamon Sefton, Charles Berthoud, Ricky Mier and Kathleen Parks met while studying at the Berklee College of Music.The band’s name is taken from the title of a William Butler Yeats poem. Its co-founder is a... Read more
The three-night series Rebellion premieres on SundanceTV on April 24. The cast includes, from left: May Lacy, Elizabeth Butler, Jimmy Mahon and Frances O’Flaherty. Image courtesy SundanceTV
A history-from-the-top-down approach focuses on the leaders and... Read more
Lauren Milord, a resident of Jamaica Plain, performs in Kieran Jordan Dance company’s production of “Little Gifts” with set designs by Vincent Crotty. Maryellen Malloy Photography photoThere are more than a few Dorchester natives who have childhood... Read more
The Massachusetts Harp Ensemble, led by Judy Ross, performs in “A Little Bit Of Ireland.” Reagle Music Theatre / Herb Philpott photo
With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, it’s time for Reagle Music Theatre’s annual celebration, “A Little Bit Of Ireland... Read more
Matthew Byrne: “These songs are windows into the lives of those people, and the time and place in which they lived,” says Matthew Byrne of his repertoire, much of which comes from his family. Graham Kennedy photoAt the end of last year, Newfoundland folk... Read more
Boston-based uilleann piper Joey Abarta will be part of the cast in the 2016 “A St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn.”Over its first decade, “A St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn” has made a point of featuring performers representing the younger generation of... Read more
The musical “Pippin” originally opened on Broadway in 1972. With a score by Stephen Schwartz (“Wicked,” “Godspell”), the show was created under the watchful eye of iconic director and choreographer Bob Fosse.
In 2012, “Pippin” was revived under the... Read more
A scene from the film Sing Street. Photo courtesy of Sundance Institue.
Among the dozens of foreign films screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Irish features offered some of the strongest and strangest showings. The Emerald Isle consistently... Read more
Kieran Jordan in a scene from her new instructional DVD, with musicians Armand Aromin (left) and Benedict Gagliardi.In a perfect world – or perhaps the “old” world – Irish dancing is taught by an instructor face-to-face and toe-to-toe with the student.... Read more
For Jenna Moynihan, studying at the Berklee College of Music and exploring Boston’s vibrant folk/traditional environment was a way to find herself. “I had lots of great musicians to listen to and learn from. But eventually you have to get out of mimicking... Read more
Besides BCMFest (see separate story), here are some Irish/Celtic events of note this month in Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts:
• Boston-area singer Diane Taraz, a songwriter who also performs traditional material, will present a concert to mark... Read more
SpeakEasy Stage Company presents the New England premiere of the musical “Violet” from Jan. 9 to Feb. 6 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.
With a powerful score by Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home” “Caroline, Or Change”) and book and... Read more
Seamus Connolly played “one last tune” during his retirement party last month. Sean Smith photoMusician, teacher, organizer, scholar: Fulfilling these roles for the better part of a quarter-century, Seamus Connolly has helped make Boston College a go-to... Read more
By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR
Here’s a little sampler of what New Jersey fiddler Haley Richardson has done over the past six years or so: Won Junior Fiddler of Dooney honors, plus seven Mid-Atlantic Fleadh and two All-Ireland Fleadh titles; performed... Read more
Scottish-born Maeve Gilchrist, among the featured performers at this year’s “Christmas Celtic Sojourn,” has been awfully busy of late, but she paused in her recent travels to discuss the show, her past times in Boston, and her childhood memories of the... Read more
By R. J. Donovan
Special to the BIR
Erica Spyres – actress, singer and classical violinist – has spent her life surrounded by music. Her parents are both music teachers. Her brothers are both singers. And her family was honored as “The Most Musical... Read more
