Ready For A Festive Irish Christmas?

Gwen Orel Reveals The Hottest Tickets In Town This Christmas Holiday

Something about Celtic music and theatre seems to suit the long shadows of Solstice.

There are a lot of events going on.

This list (non-exhaustive) should spark some ideas!

Some of the musicians are touring nationally so be sure to check their websites if you're out of town and looking for ideas.

MUSIC

THE PIPES OF CHRISTMAS
Presented by the Clan Currie Society, Scottish and Irish pipers from all over the country and the world play holiday music, with brass, strings and percussion, and readings taken from Celtic literature of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, for the 13th year.
Glasgow-born actor James Robinson and Andrew Weir appear (together they played young Hamish in Mel Gibson's 1995 film 'Braveheart').
Also featuring Chris Layer, piper and flutist (he also runs the Swift Sessions on Tuesday Nights), playing with his trio 'Local Hero,' which includes Susie Petrov from Boston (piano) and Jennifer Port from Scotland (clarsach).
Saturday, December 17 & Sunday, December 18 at 2 p.m. Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church 921 Madison Avenue (at 73rd Street) New York, NY
Tickets via SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com
www.pipesofchristmas.com

CHERISH THE LADIES
Joanie and the girls are hosting their first ever Cruise this year in January.
To get a little taste of what that might be like, check out their holiday concert-always a treat.
Expect songs from their holiday album 'A Star in the East,' among others.
www.cherishtheladies.com
Thursday, December 22nd
Mineola, New York - Irish American Society
www.irishamericansoc.com

THE IRISH TENORS
Finbar Wright, Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan will be singing songs from their Christmas CDs, 'We Three Kings' and 'The Irish Tenors Christmas.'
www.theirishtenors.com
Wednesday, December 21st.
New Brunswick, New Jersey State Theatre New Brunswick, NJ (732) 246-7469

EILEEN IVERS
The fiddler with the "wild blue" fiddle is such a joy to watch!
Her 2007 'An Nollaig' album is still one of the best Irish Christmas CDs ever.
It takes Bach's 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring' and morphs it into a jig.
She'll be on Joanie's Irish Christmas cruise, too!
www.eileenivers.com
Tristate: 12/13, 12/14: Bay Shore, Boulton Center, www.boultoncenter.org, 631-969-1101; 12/17: Branchburg, The Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College, 908-725-3420, www.rvccarts.org; 12/18: Troy, NY; Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, 518-273-0038, www.troymusichall.org; 12/20: Gettsyburg, PA, Majestic Theater, 717-337-8200, www.gettsyburgmajestic.org; 12/21, Sellersville, PA: Sellervislle Theater, 215-257-58-8, www.st94.com

AN IRISH CHRISTMAS: A MUSICAL SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
Once again hosted by National Heritage award winner, folklorist and banjo player Dr. Mick Moloney, Irish Arts Center presents their annual Irish Christmas concert events.
They just released a cracking live CD from last year's concerts-check out our review and article in last week's issue!
With fiddler Athena Tergis and special guests, including champion button accordionist Billy McComiskey, pianist Brendan Dolan, fiddler Liz Hanley, and dancer Niall O'Leary; Grace Nono sings Philipino chants and Tamar Korn sings Yiddish songs.
And, there are always surprise guest appearances-in the past Malachy McCourt, Colum McCann and Gabriel Byrne have dropped by.
www.irishartscenter.org
Through Dec. 18; www.irishartscenter.org Irish Arts Center: 553 West 51st St, 212-868-4444

DEMPSEY'S PUB CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY PARTY
The Tuesday night session December will be led by accordion Joey Mullen, and should be a very festive night.
This long running seisun was featured in Sam Adelman's film Beautiful People.
Have you seen it yet? It would make a great Holiday gift! You can purchase it here!
12/ 20, Dempsey's Pub, 61 2nd Avenue, NY www.dempseyspub.com 212-388-0662

SAINT MARK'S PLACE SIAMSA
A new weekly Celebration of Celtic Culture at Theatre 80, presented by Tony DeMarco, celebrated Irish fiddler who runs the 11th St. seisuin on Sunday nights.
The evening will be a participatory experience for the audience, including dance lessons and dancing after the concert, and an all welcome seisuin.
Monday, Dec 19th: Brian Mallon (poet, storyteller) Mary Beth Taylor (dance teacher)
Monday, Dec 26th: Mary Fee (dance teacher) Bernie Fee (fiddle) Allen Gogarty (guitar/vocals)
Come early and have a drink in the William Barnacle Tavern
Programs timeline: (every Monday): 7:00 - 7:45 PM Ceile (Irish Dance) Lessons 8:00 - 8:45 PM Concert, featuring Tony D & Special guests 9:00 - 9:45 PM Ceile 10:00 - closing Seisiun (Irish Music Session)
Tickets: $10! 212-388-0388 80 St. Marks Pl. New York, NY 10003
www.theatre80.net

THEATRE

All of a sudden there seem to be a lot of Irish shows in town that you won't want to miss!

A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES
Dylan Thomas's classic, adapted and directed by Charlotte Moore, runs at Irish Repertory Theatre from Dec. 7 to Dec. 31 only.
This production, a yearly tradition at Irish Rep, features traditional and contemporary Christmas music, in the lovely story about a snowy day in Wales.
Performers include Edwin Cahill ('Lovemusik'), Howard McGillin ('Phantom of the Opera'), Danielle Erin Rhodes ('The Marvelous Wondrettes') and more.
At Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 W. 22nd St, bet. 6th and 7th
www.irishrep.org or 212-727-2737

ONCE
Based on the acclaimed 2007 film, with a new book by Enda Walsh, directed by John Tiffany.
This show has already announced its move uptown to Broadway.
If you can get tickets, it will make a good Christmas present!
With music by Glen Hansard and Marketá Irglová.
On the streets of Dublin, an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant are drawn together by their shared love of music.
Over the course of one fateful week, an unexpected friendship and collaboration quickly evolves into a powerful but complicated love story.
At New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street (between Bowery and 2nd Ave) through Jan. 1.
www.nytw.org, 212-460-5475.

MISTERMAN
By Enda Walsh, a Landmark Productions/Galway Arts Festival Co-Production, at St. Ann's Warehouse through Dec. 21.
Cillian Murphy collaborates with playwright/director Enda Walsh for the first time since Walsh's play Disco Pigs launched their careers 15 years ago.
See our review in last week's issue here.
Murphy plays Thomas Magill, a self-proclaimed "prophet," taking notes on the failings of the townspeople of Inishfree, listening to the voices in his head in this dark tour-de-force.
www.stannswarehouse.org or 866-811-4111

DANCING AT LUGHNASA
By Brian Friel, at Irish Repertory Theatre, Extended through Jan. 15. Directed by Charlotte Moore.
Read our review here.
The 20th anniversary production of Friel's masterful play about five unmarried sisters in the autumn of 1936 in a cottage in Donegal.
At Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 W. 22nd St, bet. 6th and 7th
www.irishrep.org or 212-727-1737

JAMES X
By Gerard Mannix Flynn, Directed by Gabriel Byrne, Prsented by Byrne, Liam Neeson and the Culture Project.
Written and performed by Mannix Flynn, a New Independent Dublin City Councillor, the play presents a man facing a government tribunal of inquiry into the institutions responsible for the cruel and inhumane treatment of children.
See our interview with the author in the Nov. 29 issue!
Through Dec. 18 at Culture Project, 45 Bleecker St.
www.cultureproject.org, 866-811-4111.

KRAPP'S LAST TAPE
John Hurt stars in Samuel Beckett's play, making his New York debut.
At BAM Harvey Theater, through Dec. 18 only.
Not to be missed, Hurt plays a writer listening to the tape he made on his 39th birthday, reliving and regretting his past.
BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St), Brooklyn. Review in this issue. www.bam.org or 718-636-4129

FILM

It's always a social event to go to one of the Irish movie nights at the New York Irish Center.
It's a relatively new tradition, and this is the fifth one.
The film is The Van, the third in Roddy Doyle's 'Barrytown Trilogy' (following The Commitments and The Snapper).
The short is 'The Wednesdays,' a short film by Conor Ferguson.
Fri., Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m. at the New York Irish Center, 10-40 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY. Tickets at www.nyirish.org via Paypal, Credit or Debit Card
Regular $11, Seniors, Students, Unemployed $6

Gwen Orel runs the blog and podcast, New York Irish Arts