Tomáseen Foley’s A CELTIC CHRISTMAS
Wednesday, December 21 3:00 p.m. & 7.30 p.m.
Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater, Medford, OR
Tickets online: http://www.craterian.org/calendar
Phone: 541-779-3000
Sponsored by Jefferson Public Radio and the Gaelic League
For the fourteenth successive year, Medford’s Craterian Ginger Rogers Theatre will be the designated farmhouse for Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas. The renowned native Irish storyteller with his troupe of Celtic musicians and traditional Irish dancers will gather there on Wednesday, December 21st for two performances: a matinee at 3:00 PM and an evening performance at 7:30 PM. (Tickets: 541-779-3000 or online at: http://www.craterian.org/calendar/)
Now a long-established Rogue Valley Christmas tradition, Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas is a loving recreation of a night before Christmas in a remote farmhouse in this native parish of Teampall an Ghleanntain (in West of Ireland) around 1950 — in the days before the motorcar, the television, or the telephone.
Every Christmas in Teampall an Ghleantain the neighbors gathered at each others’ farmhouses and brought with them their traditional musical instruments for a night of music, song, dance, storytelling, and, especially, laughter. A Celtic Christmas brings to its audience – its neighbors – a wholesome cultural feast directly from the rich table of communal life that Tomáseen experienced as a child.
Drawing talent from both sides of the Atlantic, Tomáseen brings with him some of the finest exponents of the traditional Celtic arts performing anywhere today. The show’s Music Director is Grammy-Award winner William Coulter — an internationally acclaimed master of the steel-string guitar. www.williamcoulter.com
Galwayman Marcus Donnelly competed with great distinction in the All-Ireland and World Irish Dance Championships and is one of the most exhilarating dancers within the international Irish dance tradition.
Direct from County Mayo is the prodigiously talented vocalist, musician and champion traditional Irish dancer, Marianne Knight. www.marianneknight.com
And back for his fourth successive tour is the noted Uilleann piper Brian Bigley — also a world-class Irish step dancer: he competed in the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in 2002 and in Killarney, Ireland in 2003. http://www.brianbigleymusic.com/
The two shows at the Craterian on Wednesday December 21st are the culmination of a national tour that begins in New Brunswick, Canada on November 26th.
www.acelticchristmas.com
