Riverdance celebrates its 20th anniversary by presenting a thrilling show at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. I have seen many Irish dance performances on television but never live, and this show is not to be missed. The cast is comprised of world-class, award-winning Irish dancers who attack each number with powerful precision and awe inspiring, lightning fast foot work.
Director John McColgan creates a magical experience combining up-tempo musical numbers, haunting Irish ballads coupled with poetry written by Theo Dorgan, and narrated by the smooth sounding John Kavanagh. Projections of picturesque scenes transport us to various locations throughout Ireland, and John Comiskey’s lighting design adds to the mystery and excitement of the numbers.
It’s hard to pick my favorite parts of the show because all the numbers were highly entertaining and huge crowd pleasers. I appreciated the directorial decision to incorporate other dance styles into the show. Dramatic flamenco solos were expertly performed by Marita Martinez-Rey and there was also an exhilarating Russian number performed by some of the company members. One of my favorite numbers was the humorous face-off between two tappers, Michael Everett (who also has a gorgeous singing voice) and Tyler Knowlin as they try to outdo the Irish dancers. Everett and Knowlin know how to mine a scene for comedy as they mocked the Irish dancers, and continuously tried to one up them. It would be impossible to pick a winning team for that competition.
The principal dancers were stunning. Maggie Darlington was magnetic and James Greenan has tremendous charisma and confidence.
Riverdance has not lost any of its charm since it exploded onto the scene twenty years ago. If you want chills, thrills and a really fun night out on the town, you have until May 29th to take in this terrific show.
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