The Irish and how they got that way |
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Ed Saultz (10/04/08 05:44:48)
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Last night I had the great pleasure of attending the opening night of this brilliant musical at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens. It was produced by the center along with The Columcille Irish Cultural Center, both of Staten Island, NY.
Normally I would not sit through a stage play that followed in the "Irish Minstrel" traditions as that way of presenting the music of Ireland is not to my fancy. My bride and I were guests of our dear friend and brilliant pianist Margie Waldrum. Margie, along with Amy Beshera, a brilliant fiddler, are two of the trio Sonas I play often with. They were the two musicians in the play.
All that said I have to admit to being thoroughly entertained from the opening monologue to the standing ovation finish. I laughed, I cried, deeply seated anger was awakened only to be consoled again by laughter, I was proud, I learned new bits about my heritage, and all the while treated to such lovely singing, acting, and music by the cast. The director, Christopher Catt, did an outstanding job casting, and then bringing out the very best of the four actors as well the two musicians, all of whom were on stage for the entire production. Throughout the entire play you could hear folks softly singing along to the songs to which Whitney Branan, Erin Flanagan, John Griffin, and Tim Pratt were so brilliantly treating us. These four extremely talented actors and actresses absolutely wowed me with their vocal virtuosity. From "Finnegan's Wake" to "Dublin, in the Rare Oul Times" there wasn't even a hint of disappointment to experience. My personal favorite of the evening was when Erin Flanagan sang Pete St. John's great famine ballad "The Fields of Athenry". Rarely anymore does that song stir up emotions or tears in me the way Erin's singing did last night. Fair play to you Miss Flanagan, well done, well done indeed!
For those within reach of Staten Island, NY I would highly recommend seeing this brilliant production. You'll be glad you did. It's running this weekend and next, October 3rd through 5th and 10th through 12th then it is on to the Queens Theater in the Park, Queens, NY for a run from October 22nd through 26th. Visit http://www.snug-harbor.org/index.html to learn more about the Staten Island presentations and http://queenstheatre.org/08Irish.htm for those in Queens.
All the best!
Peace,
Ed
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