Riverdance on Broadway
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Description
There have been moments when it seemed every shopping mall in the Western world had succumbed to Riverdance, when every speaker and video monitor in every store and public square was pulsing with the rhythmic Celtic beat of a score of vibrant young hoofers tapping fervently to fiddle and tin-whistle. The phenomenon has now gone Broadway, and composer Bill Whelan--who's done for his native Irish folk music what Freddie Mercury and Queen did for Italian opera--has raised the musical stakes considerably. Whelan's familiar, amped-up take on the Chieftains is supplemented here by harmonically brave a cappella refrains and even the fusion-minded use of Spanish guitar and flamenco rhythms. Whelan has written six new songs for this production, which features vocals by Brian Kennedy and Tsidii Le Loka (who has appeared in Broadway's The Lion King as Rafiki). The album thus presents the most comprehensive and up-to-date version of the evolving Riverdance phenomenon. Whelan is what many critics hate most--a consistent crowd pleaser. --Jerry McCulley
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