The River Raisin Centre for the Arts welcomes Tomaseen Foley’s Irish Times to the River Raisin Centre for the Arts on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 pm.
Tomáseen Foley’s Irish Times brings to exhilarating life, on stage, the joyous memory of the traditional céilí gatherings at weddings, wakes, and solstice celebrations, when the neighbors would bring with them their instruments — uilleann pipes, fiddles, bodhráns, tin whistles and flutes. Join us for an evening of fiery music, stirring ballads, foot-stomping traditional dances, and — of course, stories — from the man who has been called Ireland’s Garrison Keilor and a master of the Irish narrative, Tomáseen Foley.
Irish Times is Foley’s newest show in which he seeks to create on stage an authentic remembrance of a way of life that is no longer with us. The show affords a window into the extraordinarily rich cultural life of the ordinary people of the remote parish of Teampall an Ghleannáin — Tomáseen’s birthplace — in the days before the motor car, the television and the telephone.
In a special collaboration, River Raisin Dance Academy Irish and Highland dancer students will open the show with a short piece choreographed by Rebecca Molenda. Molenda has been working with these students since September and is responsible for bringing Irish and Highland dance to the RRCA in the summer of 2014. This opportunity is part of the RRCA’s educational outreach program that seeks to provide unique opportunities for our arts students to further their experience and knowledge in whatever performing arts discipline they choose to study.
Irish Times comes to the RRCA on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $32 for adults, $29 for seniors, and $18 for students and children. Tickets are now available by calling the River Raisin Centre for the Arts at (734)-242-7722, stopping by our box office at 114 South Monroe Street or by visiting the RRCA website at www.riverraisincentre.org for tickets.
ABOUT THE RRCA:
The River Raisin Centre, governed by a board of directors, is a nonprofit performing arts center dedicated to educating, presenting, and producing. The RRCA is home to the River Raisin Dance Academy, RRCA Music Theatre Company, River Raisin Ballet Company, Motor City Jazz Extension, and RRCA School of Music. In addition to the 12 Marquee Shows presented each year, the theatre hosts over 700 children a week through its arts education classes, camps and workshops.
ABOUT TOMASEEN FOLEY:
Storyteller/Director Tomáseen Foley was born on a small farm in the remote parish of Teampall an Ghleanntáin in the West of Ireland. Each year from Thanksgiving until Christmas, his show Tomáseen Foleys A Celtic Christmas plays to critical acclaim and packed concert halls around the US. Tomáseen Foley’s Irish Times tours throughout the remainder of the year. The Oregon Cabaret has developed a hit musical from his story Parcel From America. He has released two CDs: A Celtic Christmas: Parcel From America, and a live recording, The Priest and the Acrobat. Rego Irish Records says “he is a master of the Irish narrative and a keeper of the flame for a priceless piece of Irish culture”.
