Nick from The Centenary Stage Company in New Jersey asked me if I would share a couple of upcoming shows with the readers of The Irish in America…

Centenary Stage Company is a not-for-profit professional Equity
theatre dedicated to bringing the performing arts to the Warren, Sussex,
Morris and Hunterdon County areas. Our
actors are a part of the Actors Equity
Association, the professional union
for actors. We are an associate
member of The New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

The first event is a Celtic music performance on Saturday, February 9th. Read on…

With its roots in Celtic tradition, Le Vent du Nord brings their high energy folk music to the Centenary Stage Company’s Sitnik Theatre in the David and Carol Lackland Center on Saturday, February 9th at 8 p.m. This group composed of singers and multi-instrumentalists play a unique blend of original compositions and traditional Quebecois folk songs with a spirited Celtic flair, also incorporating familiar Cajun melodies and rhythms. Playing with Celtic luminaries such as The Chieftains, Le Vent du Nord has been enjoying increasing success since their inception in 2002 performing with other popular musical acts the world over. Their new album “Tromper le Temps” was awarded “World Music Album of the Year” in 2012.

The Boston Herald described the band’s sound, featuring button accordion, foot percussion, guitar and fiddle, as “defined by the hurdy-gurdy, which adds an earthy, rough-hewn flavor to even the most buoyant dance tunes.” Members of Le Vent du Nord include Nicolas Boulerice, Simon Beaudry, Olivier Demers, and Réjean Brunet who’ve all been training in their instruments since they were young boys. Considered a driving force in progressive folk, “these four young men… have taken Celtic music filtered through the Québécois tradition and hopped it up with vitality and innovation,” says Eugene Weekly.

Visit CSC website for more information and ticket information.

The second performance of interest is Martin McDonagh’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan”, running February 22nd – March 10th.

In 1934, the people of Inishmaan learn that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighboring island to film a documentary. No one is more excited than Cripple Billy, an unloved boy whose chief occupation has been grazing cows and yearning for a girl who wants no part of him. Billy is determined to cross the sea and audition for the Yank. As news of his audacity ripples through his rumor-starved community, The Cripple of Inishmaan becomes a merciless portrayal of a world comically cramped and relentlessly absurd, even when, to everyone’s surprise, the orphan and outcast gets his big chance.

Two great events in New Jersey for those interested in Celtic-inspired music and Irish drama. If you live in the area, check it out! For ticket and venue information visit The Centenary Stage Company today!