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 From Galway to Broadway
On Saturday evening, February 6, 2010 at the new South Dade Senior High School, the Homestead Community Concert presented
From Galway to Broadway starring Ciarán Sheehan. Dublin-born Ciarán’s Broadway performances include the romantic hero Marius in Les Miserables, the dashing Raoul in
The Phantom of the Opera, and eventually the coveted role of the Phantom which he has now done more than 1000 times. Ciarán performed this past Saturday with the enchanting Broadway star, Gay Willis, pianist Eily O'Grady Patterson, and harpist Deborah Brinson.
Coloratura soprano Gay Willis won recognition when she did a world tour of the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. This was followed by her role as Christine in
The Phantom of the Opera opposite Ciarán. You guessed it: the concert included music from this wonderful opera. Other Broadway performances include Rapunzel in Stephen Sondheim’s
Into the Woods, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance (for which she won a Best Actress award),
Funny Girl (with Whoopi Goldberg), and Showboat. This Beaufort, North Carolina gal says her best role, however, is as wife of George and mother to her sons Gabriel and Chad.
Eily O’Grady Patterson is a Dublin born pianist and harpist. Some of you may recognize her late husband, the internationally famous tenor Frank Patterson. They performed together for years on Radio City Music Hall’s Frank Patterson Irish Show. Eily has toured for two years with Ciarán and Gay and recently co-produced the TV special From Galway to Broadway on PBS. Honors include 2003 “Irish Woman of the Year” (from New York City Department of Education) and honorary Doctorates from Salve Regina University (Rhode Island) and Manhattan College (New York).
The newest member to the group is soprano, pianist, teacher, and Celtic harpist Deborah Brinson. The Celtic harp is a smaller floor no pedals version of the traditional modern concert harp. Deborah also performs with an even smaller “lap” version. This authentic traditional Celtic harp accompaniment added a genuine Irish flavor to her songs in the program. It should be noted that this refined petit performer is a genuine rough-and-tough cow-girl when home on her ranch in Millspring, North Carolina.
During my “before-the-show” interview and several times during the performance, the members expressed their joy at having escaped the cold and snow of their various home bases and hoped the great South Florida weather would hold up as they head off for performances in Palm Beach County. The title of the show reflects Ciarán’s collective Dublin and Broadway experiences. He grinned and quipped that Galway (a town in Ireland) rhymed better than naming the show “From Dublin to Broadway”.
The show opened with Ciarán and Gay singly and together singing “Galway Bay”, “Bring Him Home” (from
Les Misarables about a wounded soldier), “How Are Thing in Glocca Marra” (from
Finian’s Rainbow), John Denver’s “Perhaps Love”, and a most touching rendition of “Maria” (from
West Side Story). Of note is that the house lights were left part way up so that performers could interact with the audience. We sang with them and were immediately made comfortable with our dual role as both audience and “back-up” chorus.
Next was Deborah with her Celtic harp. She told us that Irish music often has two themes: he left me (went off to war), or, he left me and died! These themes were evident in “The Curragh of Kildare” (“…my true love is absent from me…”) and “Only Our Rivers Run Free” (“…about a country that has never known freedom…”).
Ciarán returned and related that he learned the next song from his uncle Morris who sang it early mornings as he milked his cows. Can you visualize “I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen” to the rhythm of milking a cow? This song was an immediate audience favorite when announced even before the story or its being sung. The first half ended with Gay singing and leading us in “Edelweiss” and Ciarán and Gay (as Raoul comforting Christine) with “All I Ask of You” from
The Phantom of the Opera.
As the opener to the second half Ciarán showed off a little with the Italian favorite “O Sole Mio”. He jokingly justified its inclusion as a tribute to those Italians dragged to America by their Irish mates. Next was Gay singing the Andrew Lloyd Webber favorite “Memory” (from
Cats) about an aging feline reminiscing her lost youth. Gay handled the extremely wide range demanded by this piece with ease. The piece modulated up even higher taking her close to her personal top note of a double high “G” which is eight notes above the treble clef. That’s a height that for most of us would require an oxygen mask!
Next was Deborah’s rendition of the well-known “Minstrel Boy” about a young man who went off to war and is killed. The sad mood was lifted as we all got to sing again with Gay leading us in “Too ra loo ra”. Then Gay and Ciarán sang “Danny Boy” about a mother singing to her son as he prepares to go off to war. “But I’ll be back…” he promises and vows that should she die before he returns, he would “…find the place where you’re lying…”. This poignant duet brought on some heavy breathing and a few tears.
The program ended with Ciarán (as the Phantom this time) singing “Music of the Night”. It was dramatic, touching, and ended beautifully with a vocal line that simply floated away into the night. This was a relaxing, enjoyable, and more than once a touching program of music from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. If you weren’t there, you missed a good one.
Mark your calendars. Sunday, March 28, 2010, 2:30 pm when
Homestead Community Concerts presents War Bonds: The Songs and
Letters of WWII. This journey through letters, stories, and
songs of a war that redefined the world promises to be a
sentimental and memorable experience. For tickets and further
concert information, call (305) 235-8818 or (305) 253-6620.
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