'Step into the Irish Parlor-St. Patrick's Day' at Greenwich Odeum

Posted 3/1/17

Kevin Doyle's Roscommon Soles performers will take to the stage March 11 and 12 at the Greenwich Odeum in East Greenwich, with the newest version of a show inspired by their Library of Congress performance in honor of Doyle's award as a National Heritage

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'Step into the Irish Parlor-St. Patrick's Day' at Greenwich Odeum

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Kevin Doyle’s Roscommon Soles performers will take to the stage March 11 and 12 at the Greenwich Odeum in East Greenwich, with the newest version of a show inspired by their Library of Congress performance in honor of Doyle’s award as a National Heritage Fellow.  

The latest  “Step into the Irish Parlor-St. Patrick’s Day” creates an intimate, 1960s Irish-American holiday celebration on the stage of the newly restored, historic vaudeville era theatre for an audience of all ages.

“Step into the Irish Parlor-St. Patrick’s Day” highlights the traveling tale of Margaret Taylor Doyle’s jigs and reels from the village of Castlerea in County Roscommon.  Arriving in Providence in the 1930s, Margaret and her growing family celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with family, friends and, of course, dancing. Part variety show, part cabaret and part storytelling theatre, the show always keeps Irish step dancing in the spotlight.

The new show keeps Margaret’s jigs and reels and neighborhood stories in the holiday recipe, but the latest return to the “Parlor” also visits other St. Patrick’s Day “houses” past and present. 

This time, Doyle and creative partner Mary Lee Partington take the audience on a journey of the imagination back and forth through Irish-American times to a Five Points, New York taproom to meet William Henry Lane, a free African American who may have been born in Providence in 1825 at the crossroads era between Irish step dance and American tap dance. Scenes also pay a visit to a Roscommon cottage parlor on St. Patrick’s Day, as well as to a grand theatre house, Lowe’s State in Providence for its popular singing competition, “When Irish Eyes are Smiling.”    

Roscommon Soles cast includes Kevin Doyle, his sister Maureen Doyle and daughter Shannon Doyle. The ensemble showcases All Ireland championship fiddler and composer Sheila Falls-Keohane, Director of the Gaelic Roots Series at Boston College, and award winning R.I. Irish flute player Joshua Kane. Pianist and violinist Cathy Clasper-Torch of The Gnomes joins Christian “Junior” Stevens of Maine, accordionist from Press Gang. 

A new generation is represented to stunning effect when World Champion Irish step dancer Samuel Miller of the Goulding School of Dance takes to the stage after placing fifth in international competition in Glasgow, Scotland, last year.  The cast also welcomes Erika Damiani, Director of Tir Na Nog Irish Dance at The Blackstone River Theatre and youth performers Annabel Lynch and Seamus McKeating.  Making their Roscommon Soles debut are dancers Saulo Castillo, Executive Director of RawKin’ RhythMix and  C.J. Jefferson, along with vocalist and actor Emily Mae Partington.  Mary Lee Partington joins dancer and choreographer Doyle, both of Pendragon, as artistic director and writer for Roscommon Soles.  She performs as storyteller, singer and musician.  Technical services are provided by Graham Mellor, Sound Advice, LLC. Art is by Irish painter Vincent Crotty of Boston. 

“Step into the Irish Parlor-St. Patrick’s Day,” with Kevin Doyle’s Roscommon Soles is presented on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., on March 11-12 at the Greenwich Odeum in East Greenwich. These performances are funded, in part, by a grant from RI State Council on the Arts.  For further information and advance sale, reserved-seat tickets visit www.greenwichodeum.com.

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