The past number of weeks have been so hectic I don’t even know where to begin but our time in Boston is surely a good start. Having enjoyed a nice evening with cast member John Grime’s family in Concord, New Hampshire we arose early the following Friday morning to catch the public bus to Boston. Since the Boston marathon was on, the hotels were jam packed so our company hotel was quite a distance from the city. Instead, a few of us decided to stay at the “Marriot Quincy” giving us more freedom to come in and out of the city as we pleased, which was great.

The weather was beautiful when we arrived into Boston and once we dropped our bags at the venue, we were free for the day. We set off to “Harvard University” and general Cambridge area which, as you would imagine was buzzing with bright young scholars. As we explored the beautiful and intriguing university grounds, it dawned on us that we were also standing in the very place where “Facebook” once crashed the university server!

Leaving the books behind in search of lunch, it was hard not to notice the long queue outside Mr&Mrs Bartleys famous burger joint which wastightly run by the jolly couple themselves. Mr Bartley took our order outside and after a short wait, we were seated in the tiny establishment and enjoyed a feast which had us full for the day.

We continued to “Copley Square Mall” and finished the day before our first show having coffee at the charming “Boston Common” public park. The following night, my friend Gareth from home who is now living in Quincy, came to watch the show with his girlfriend and her parents. Coincidentally my Aunty Imelda was also flying into Boston airport the following day to spend time with my close relatives from Conneticut. Having spent the morning having breakfast and walking through the wonderful “Little Italy” area, I raced to the airport after our matinee show for a much needed catch up. As thoughtful as ever, Imelda surprised me with some treats from home including homemade wheaten bread. I had a lovely time with them all before returning to Boston Opera House for the last of our shows there.

Leaving the big city behind, we continued to the much smaller town of Buffalo, NY which was just a stopover enroute to Canada for our next show on Tuesday. After a rather long bus journey, we had a lovely evening off there enjoying some thai food, finished off with a beautiful desert next door at an interesting “Chocolate Martini Bar”. On our journey to London, Ontario the following day, I was just dosing off when I heard some commotion on the bus and was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful sight of none other than “Niagara Falls”! Stopping for lunch there was surreal and it was back to Canada with a bang for a further two week stint.

I was overly excited about our imminent stay in Toronto on Thursday and as expected I loved it from the moment we arrived. On first impressions, the city is representative of a much stronger Canadian economy. The streets are alive with business people and tourists alike and the many eateries and bars are packed daily. We spent our first day on Queen Street where we enjoyed a beautiful breakfast on “Cafe Niche”‘s terrace and delved into the many shops ranging from quirky boutiques to high-street stores. “Queen Street” had so much to offer that I returned on our second day spending the majority of my day relaxing in “Chococrepe” catching up with people at home on my computer over some delicious crepes and coffee.

Meanwhile, our male troupe had an early start as they performed live on Canada’s largest TV show, Canada AM. Their PR duties must have paid off as the audiences in Toronto were the most memorable of the tour with a whopping near 10,000 people attending our shows!

All in all, Toronto surpassed my expectations and to finish a great trip, once again I met with some familiar faces from home at “Sweaty Bettys” – a little dive bar which I later discovered to be Drew Barrymore’s favourite bar in Toronto.

Read this on the Riverdance website: Boston to Toronto

New York, New York so good they named it twice. Well I’m relabeling the city for all you Bostonians out there; “Beantown Beantown!” What a splendid weekend we endured as we took the Opera House by storm one last time for the fine people of Massachusetts. Five spectacular performances over three days simply could not afford me enough time to whisk around and complete my usual touristy stunts.We were simply blessed yet again with the fine weather which peaked well into the 80′s.

Preparations for Boston Marathon on Boylston Street

Leaving the Fairfield Inn Concord , we embarked on the eleven o’ clock public bus service into the city. I almost jumped with excitement at the sound of the ” next stop South Station ” announcement. We easily made our way to the mouth of Chinatown and walked straight on up through ……..st. There dazzling before my eyes was the giant, purple ‘W’ sign glittering in the early afternoon sun. I had the pleasure of staying with some wonderful relatives at the fabulous W Boston Hotel right in the heart of the theatre district. Regrettably the weekend wasn’t enough time to spend with my dear cousins.

Not all of the Riverdance Company were lucky enough to lap up the luxury of the W Hotel, some resorting to the assigned hotel in Woburn and the Mariott in Quincy. It was on the forefront of everyones mind to make the most of what Boston had to offer.

After a delightful opening night I went to spend some more quality time over a late dinner with my cousins at the contemporary Italian restaurant, Teatro. If you have never had duck ravioli and wish to try it, I recommend you to pay a visit to one of the chefs here. The Friday night special on the menu left me licking my fingers and wishing I hadn’t ate that poor bird so quick. I urge you, GO!

I had the responsibility to tweet on behalf of Riverdance for ‘Broadway in Boston‘ , a company which promote and advertise musicals, dance shows and other such theatrical performances coming to Boston. I confess I am quite unfamiliar with the use of ‘Twitter’ as a means of social networking however duty calls and I was delighted to assist the staff of ‘Broadway in Boston’ on such a privileged task . I enjoyed giving updates on life of a professional Irish dancer offstage. A sneak peek into how we prepare for an opening night performance is obviously still as intriguing as ever to the outside eye. Thank you to Rich Jaffe and the Broadway in Boston team for the wonderful baseball hats and welcome letters!

Thank you to the Broadway in Boston Team for the baseball caps

Boston itself ,being a city quite influenced by the Irish, makes it a hub for many Irish Dancing Schools. We were so thrilled to welcome Irish Dance students from many different dance academies to our performances over the weekend period. Autograph signing and partaking in group shots with throngs of young dancers and enthusiasts makes my job on the road as exciting as ever. Certainly the Nevin, Cunniffe, Hayley and Woods Academy added to the wonderful atmosphere in the Opera House. I remember only too well seeing Riverdance for the first time in Dublin and how it inspired me to better myself as a dancer. I hope we too, have the ability to deliver such inspiration to the young generation of dancers today.

Temperatures soared into the high 70′s on saturday afternoon. This made choosing a lunch stop too difficult. What an array of foodstuffs, spoiled by too many types of restraunts and cuisines . Was it sinful to gorge on the All American bacon and egg and cheese bagel and donut for breakfast? (That’s meant to be rhetorical.) No! It’s a sin to walk straight past a Dunkin Donuts and not treat oneself to a fresh Boston Cream!

ME AND MARITA EXPERIENCING THE AMERICAN DREAM!

Lunch brought Korean BBQ for me after my matinee. I was torn between that and the Dumpling House in the heart of Chinatown! With some time to spare after I wet my apetite, I made my way down to Faneuil Hall at Quincy Market. Blown away by the assortment of food there, I felt cheated by the feeling of satiety or rather upset as I passed the stalls of fresh oyster and Boston clam chowder ( pronounced ‘chowda’!). Making my way outside the market I was met by street performers such as jugglers, magicians and dancers effortlessly entertaining dozens of Bostonians and visitors alike. Hmm, yes, Saturday afternoon in Downtown Boston wasn’t such a bad place to be in I thought to myself….

Strolling back up the Freedom Trail off Washington Street I was nostalgic and moved at the Irish Famine Memorial by the fine sculptor, Robert Shure. It was a grim reminder of hard times endured by our predecessors but signified hope and the start of something new.

Famine Memorial at the Freedom Trail

After some R&R at the Quincy Mariott, I woke a happy girl Sunday morning ready to take Boston once again by storm. With the excitement of the preempting Boston Marathon (since 1897) and all the preparations underway I was excited to explore the city and follow some of the route for the following day. Aimlessely strolling (with emphasis on word strolling) down Boylston Street, I couldn’t help think how so many brave runners were going to partake in this epic world-renowned race in such hot temperatures. I was soon distracted at the thoughts of Copley Mall and the Prudential Centre. Ah yes! The reason for my visit to Newbury St.! With my usual, unfortunate time constraint I whizzed around as many stores as quick as I could. Thank you Alex & Ani, Kate Spade, Rag & Bone and Lululemon Athletica for emptying my wallet and depressing me at the sight of all the things I am unable to afford from your store!

So here I bow out and leave with you another chapter of our travels. With a fond goodbye to Beantown Beantown, we leave with great sadness but hope the joy and life of Riverdance this weekend brought something special to each and every one of you.

Fiona's Style File

Read this on the Riverdance website: Boston – a fond goodbye

Although music has always had a prominent place in her life, Niamh Ní Charra didn’t plan on a career as a professional musician. She was studying to be an electrical engineer, in fact, when fate stepped in to take her life in a completely new direction.

“I always loved playing music, but I also believed I’d never make a living out of it so I was studying engineering to have a career,” Ní Charra said in a phone interview with Boston Event Guide. “I was playing a seisiún, which is a sort of jam session for traditional Irish music, at The Burren in Somerville and some people from the Riverdance show happened to be in the audience. When an opening came up with the company later on, they contacted me and asked if I wanted to join them. I immediately said yes.”

Ní Charra ended up touring as a fiddler with Riverdance for eight years, leaving the show six years ago to pursue her own music career. Last year, as the producers started putting together the lineup for the show’s grand finale tour, they asked Ní Charra to come back on the road for, as she put it, a final ‘hurrah!’

“It’s been a much more emotional experience than I imagined it would be,” Ní Charra said about joining Riverdance for its final tour. “I knew it was a big deal just from the amount of emails and phone calls I’ve been getting from friends asking me to get them tickets – which is quite flattering in itself – but the emotion we feel from the audience when we’re up on the stage is very powerful. I don’t want to say this is just a job for us, because we all love performing in the show, but when you’re in the middle of it it’s not always easy to get any perspective on what it means to people. Folks grew up with this show. They take Irish dance classes because they saw it, or learn to play the fiddle after watching Riverdance. That’s amazing, when you think about it.”

Riverdance will be at The Opera House, Boston April 13-15. Tickets start at $28.

BroadwayInBoston.com

Read this on the Riverdance website: Ní Charra Returns to Fiddle for Final Riverdance Fling

Riverdance was born in 1995, the energetic young offspring of Big Eighties shows like Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon.

It was bred with that curious – and theatrically unsustainable – mind-set that bigger is better. It’s a lovely relic – unlikely, it seems, to have made such a remarkable global impression if it were born in these cost-conscious times.

That makes its last stop in Boston – April 13-15 at Boston Opera House – a milestone worth recognizing.

Of course, there’s no future in shows built around helicopters hovering above stage, and it’s probably also a deal-breaker to tour a dance show that requires teams of professional dancers. Dance, like plays, has gotten small. And although we all know it’s dangerous to trade art for opulence, there’s no denying the power of a line of dancers – extending from one end of Boston’s biggest stages to the other – hammering out tightly choreographed Irish dance steps that look like the height of military precision and sound like Celtic thunder.

The show is a feat of teamwork, built around the idea of a dancer being part of a whole, being part of something bigger than herself. Despite the fact that the show gave us Michael Flatley,  Riverdance is not a show about stars, it’s about the company. And, arriving on the heels of street-bred dance shows like Stomp and Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk, Riverdance  found humor and insight with its playful competition between step and tap dancers, a competition that’s clearly more of an appreciation than a rivalry.
Dancing is in these days, as you may have noticed. And it’s not really professional dancing; it’s the amateurs who are stealing the show. Ellen DeGeneres’ dancing became a signature moment of her hit talk show, and we cringe at the foibles of the overmatched “stars” of Dancing with the Stars, but deep down we admire them for dancing like nobody is watching, even though everyone is watching.
You can’t give Riverdance all the credit, but it surely deserves some of it. Just ask the suburban moms trundling their kids off not to soccer games, but to Irish step-dancing classes and competitions, complete with over-the-top costumes, sometimes hand-sewn by moms who can’t explain their kids’ obsession, but secretly love it. It’s a phenomenon that certainly wouldn’t have occurred with such force without frequent Riverdance stops in Boston, rousing our Irish roots.

It’s a fitting legacy for the show. I remember when I first saw Riverdance all those years ago, it seemed odd that the audience sat so still, spiritually moved by the spectacle onstage, but physically, literally, unmoved. Good dancing makes you want to dance, and Riverdance does that. Not only is this incoming production a chance to see, one last time, one of the defining touring shows of the past 20 years, it’s a chance to pay tribute to a show that, I’m sure, swells the ranks of local dance classes, where young girls and boys turn step dancing from something you simply see into something you do.

Read more: www.patriotledger.com/entertainment

Where: Opera House, Boston, MA
When: April 13, 2012 – April 15, 2012.
Shows: Friday & Saturday at 8pm. Sunday at 6.30pm
Matinee: Saturday at 2pm & Sunday at 1pm

Read this on the Riverdance website: “one of the defining touring shows of the past 20 years”