[caption id="attachment_67500" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="John Whelan has put together an impressive schedule of Irish music and dance for Nov. 4-6."]
A touch of synchronicity antedated the all-star "A Tribute to Harrigan & Hart" concert at Manhattan's Symphony Space on October 13.
At the same venue on September 24, violinist Tim Fain presented "Portals: A Multimedia Exploration of Longing in the Digital Age." Allan Kozinn's review of the performance in the September 27 New York Times began: "Musicians who grew up in the age of television and rock shows have become increasingly intent on replacing the stand-and-play recital format with technologically and conceptually fresher approaches."
Like Fain's conceptualization of "Portals," Mick Moloney's conceptualization of "A Tribute to Harrigan & Hart" incorporated multimedia. A large backdrop screen showed slides or photos of prominent people (Harrigan, Hart, Kitty O'Neill) and locales (the Bowery, Tony Pastor's Opera House) related to the American musical theatrical productions in the late 19th century from Edward Harrigan (1844-1911), Anthony Hart (1855-1891), and/or David Braham (1834-1905). These images and Moloney's commentary about them added significantly to the concert's appeal.
What further distinguished Moloney's presentation was his overall deft transformation of historical information into intellectual entertainment. Potentially stilted pedagogy turned into outright pleasure, and it was accomplished by merely sitting down on stage and asking a few selective questions of experts. The antithesis of the hopelessly inept, insufferably interruptive interviewer Charlie Rose on PBS-TV, Moloney in a relaxed, genial, succinct manner coaxed interesting responses from his guests.
They included David Mulkins, the chairman of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, and Kerri Culhane, an architectural historian, who together discussed with Moloney the rich heritage and vital cultural importance of the Bowery, where tap dance, streetcars, Yiddish theater, minstrelsy, and vaudeville (its notorious hook yanked tanking performers from the stage) initially took root. The efforts of Mulkins and Culhane led to the Bowery landing on the New York State Register of Historic Places, usually a precursor to landing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Another guest expert interviewed on stage by Moloney was Maureen Murphy, a dean at Hofstra University, whose metier is the Irish Famine and, in particular, New York City's Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary, which aided thousands of Irish immigrant women who mostly entered domestic service. When an archival photo of these young Irish women at the mission appeared on screen, Murphy told the audience: "These are your great-grandmothers."
Music and dance during the concert were varied, well-executed, and sometimes overtly theatrical, befitting a tribute to Harrigan and Hart. None were more so than Poor Baby Bree (Bree Benton), who adopted a Bowery accent and swagger to sing and dance to such songs as the cleverly comic "The Bowery," and Murray Callahan and Chris Simmons, a duo who at one point wore top hats and brandished U.S. and Irish flags as they performed.
Vince Giordano (playing tuba) and the Nighthawks, with Dana Lyn sitting in on violin, were superb, especially in "Patrick's Day Parade." They added period grace to this period homage.
Featuring Moloney, Billy McComiskey, Brendan Dolan, Athena Tergis, Joey Abarta, and Niall O'Leary, the Green Fields of America were a delight, delivering tunes, songs, or steps with crispness and ebullience.
Others who stood out this night included singer and concertinist John Roberts, whose rendition of "The Jolly Roving Tar" was exceptional; singer Liz Hanley; tap dancer Parker Hall; and the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra, led by Dan Neely on banjo and mandolin and also featuring Don Meade on harmonica and fiddle, Scott Spencer on flute, and Donie Carroll on vocals.
Toward the end, several descendants of the Harrigan, Hart, and Braham families came out on stage to be recognized. They joined the night's performers for a rousing rendition of "The Mulligan Guards." The song served as the capstone of Mick Moloney's emergent new concert format, blending edification with enjoyment, and multimedia with live music and dance, all pointing to a fresh trend in Irish ensemble performance.
Great weekend of music and dance coming up in Conn
Celebrating the 60th anniversary of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, an ambitious, highly appealing Irish music and dance weekend has been organized by Milford, Conn., button accordionist John Whelan for Nov. 4-6 at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. Sponsoring this weekend are CCE's Northeast Regional Board, CCE's P.V. O'Donnell Branch, the Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society, and SHU's Center for Irish Cultural Studies under the direction of Prof. Gerald F. Reid.
A seven-time All-Ireland champion box player and one of the finest composers of tunes within the idiom of Irish traditional music, Whelan has scheduled an impressive roster of workshops during the morning (10 a.m.-12 p.m.) and afternoon (1:30-3:30 p.m.) of Saturday, November 5, that covers a host of instruments as well as singing and set dancing. Instructors include Brian Conway on advanced fiddle and Jeanne Freeman on intermediate fiddle, Jerry O'Sullivan on uilleann pipes, Bridget Fitzgerald on singing in English and Irish, Brendan Dolan on tin whistle, Anna Colliton on bodhran, Flynn Cohen on guitar, Regina Delaney on harp, Damaris Woods on banjo and mandolin, Christel Rice Astin on flute, Loretta Egan Murphy on concertina and C#/D button accordion, Damien Connolly on B/C button accordion, and Roisin and Padraig McEneany on set dancing.
Featuring John Whelan, Felix Dolan, Rose Flanagan, Brendan Dolan, and several more musicians, a "super ceili" will be held between 8 p.m. and midnight on Fri., Nov. 4. A closing ceili has also been set for Sun., Nov. 6, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
CCE's Northeast Region Hall of Fame induction ceremony honoring John Whelan, Pat Stratton, Brendan Bulger, Mary Burke, and the late Jack Pendergast will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 5. And from 7:30 to 10 p.m. on Nov. 5 will be an all-star concert showcasing workshop instructors and surprise guests. The concert will be held in the 776-seat Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts on SHU's campus.
The venues for this special Nov. 4-6 weekend are the Edgerton Center and Sacred Heart University, both located at 5151 Park Ave., Fairfield, CT 06825-1000. To register for the Nov. 5 workshops or obtain other information, visit www.pvodonnellcce.org or call John Whelan at 203-430-5403. To purchase tickets to the Nov. 5 all-star concert, call the Edgerton Center box office at 203-371-7908 or visit www.edgerton center.org. Tickets to the Friday and Sunday ceilidhs will be sold at the door. In addition, call 203-877-8588 to find out about a special "Irish Music Weekend" rate for rooms at the Marriott Fairfield Inn, 11 Schoolhouse Rd., Milford, CT 06460.
It should be three days of absorbing, invigorating Irish music and dance. Go!
Best American Poetry blog
At the invitation of distinguished poet and critic David Lehman, I'll be writing daily from Sun., Oct. 23, through Sat., Oct. 29, for the Best American Poetry blog. If you love verse and love discussing it as much as I do, visit http://thebest americanpoetry.typepad.com/ the_best_american_poetry during that period.
Haley Richardson
Many of you inquired about nine-year-old fiddle prodigy Haley Richardson after you read my October 19 "Ceol" column. I provided a photo of her here, courtesy of Haley's mother, Donna.
