INTERVIEW: Dublin Irish Dance introduces wonders of Ireland to United States
Photo: The dancers, singers and musicians of Dublin Irish Dance will play the State Theatre in Easton, Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Keith Dixon / Provided by the State Theatre / Also available on CAMI press site.
Dublin Irish Dance is a big-stage spectacle featuring Irish dancing, music and song, and their new touring production, dubbed Stepping Out, will stop Friday, March 9 at the State Theatre in Easton, Pennsylvania. It also stops Saturday, March 17 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and other performing arts centers around the Northeast.
At the center of the show is Ryan O’Shaunessy, lead singer for the production and someone who will represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
“So I’m the singer and the guitar player with Dublin Irish Dance, and basically I play the role of the narrator throughout the show,” O’Shaunessy said in a recent phone interview. “So I’m telling the story about the Irish immigrants leaving their home for the shores of America. … There’s a lot of melodies written about the American Irish, and there’s some beautiful songs within the set. There’s a couple of songs that I sing solo, one being ‘Noreen Bawn.’ It’s written about the real-life Bridget Gallagher who died upon her return journey to Ireland. She was only 23, so that’s a really beautiful piece.”
O’Shaunessy became attached to Dublin Irish Dance thanks to producer Eric Cunningham, who called the singer and asked him to tour the United States.
“I saw it as a great opportunity to see some places I haven’t seen before and also do what I love, so it was a no brainer,” he said. “There has been such a good energy. We only arrived in California maybe two or three days ago, and since we got to the West Coast, the energy level has increased tenfold. There’s something about the West Coast that really gives this even stronger energy off than the rest of the States have, but we found that every night, there’s this super reaction from the audience. And everyone is just really happy to be there.”
O’Shaunessy has been singing since he was 4 years old. He started at a young age because he comes from a musical family. In fact, one of his first roles was singing “Where Is Love” from the musical Oliver!
Those early lessons have stayed with the singer, and now he’s set to represent his native country at the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest in May in Lisbon, Portugal.
“I was told recently that a song that I wrote would be representing Ireland in this song contest that goes out to 200 million people worldwide, so it’s been difficult being on tour and trying to organize all this stuff that’s going to happen on May 8 back in Lisbon,” he said. “And I’ve actually been offered the role to perform the song as well, so I have a lot going on when I return back to Ireland.”
For those who are uninitiated when it comes to Eurovision: “The way I’ve been describing it for people who don’t really understand it, it’s like the Olympics for songwriting, like the Olympics for songs, and every country has a representative and a song that represents them. It’s quite a large show. I have a huge history in my family with Eurovision. My uncle sang for Ireland in 2001, so it’s kind of a family affair at this stage.”
Playing on an international scale and touring the United States might seem like O’Shaunessy has reached the pinnacle of his career and has nothing to worry about, but, truth be told, he still gets a bit nervous before a performance.
“I’ve always gotten nervous,” he admitted. “I get nervous before I perform anywhere. That’s what feeds me to go and do it again. Before getting up on stage at Dublin Irish Dance, I always get nervous, and it’s kind of like an adrenaline rush. That’s kind of why I do it. It gives you this buzz that nothing else really can.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Dublin Irish Dance’s Stepping Out will play Friday, March 9 at the State Theatre in Easton, Pennsylvania. Click here for more information and tickets.
