News

"Celtic Evening 3" at Rome's Capitol Theater

April 27, 2009

On Saturday, May 9th, the Capitol Theater will host Celtic Evening 3, an encore to the two Celtic Evenings presented in April 2005 and 2007. The show will feature some of central NY's finest musicians and dancers, including vocalists, Irish step dancers, Scottish highland dancers, Irish fiddlers, an uilleann piper, a Celtic mandolin player, an Irish folk group, a highland drum salute, the Comhaltas musicians, and the Mohawk Valley Frasers Pipes and Drums.

World-class piper Andrew Douglas will return and be doubly featured with performances in both acts of what is scheduled to be an hour and a half of top-flight entertainment. Douglas is a former member of the several-time world champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band in Vancouver and currently Pipe Major of Oran Mor Pipe Band. He contributed a show-stopping performance in 2007 that received standing ovations, and he obliged the audience with an impromptu encore. Douglas grew up in Syracuse and, as a boy, piped with Mohawk Valley Frasers.

As in 2007, the Mohawk Valley Frasers are producing and directing the show. "The Celtic community abounds in talent", said Jim Clough, Pipe Major of the Frasers. "There is a lot from which to choose. We have no problem creating a full evening of entertainment. "

Barbara Tewksbury, a geology professor at Hamilton College and a piper with the Frasers, will again direct the production and host the evening, and Ray Tucker of the Capitol will again coordinate the lighting, staging, and sound.

The first two Celtic Evenings played to full houses and brought rave reviews, which called the shows electrifying and nothing short of spectacular. The 2009 Celtic Evening will have the same fast-paced format. "It will be non-stop entertainment," said Tewksbury . "The best from 2007 will return with fresh material, and the enormous success of our previous evenings has allowed us to recruit a few additional acts of the highest caliber. It helps that an appreciative audience makes the nights so special for the entertainers; the audience's warmth is wonderfully energizing for the performers."

As with the first Celtic Evening, all proceeds will benefit the Capitol Theatre and the Mohawk Valley Frasers Celtic Arts scholarships. Tickets may be purchased in advance at a discount by calling the Capitol Theatre Box Office at 337-6453 or at full price at the door on the night of the performance.

For more information, http://mohawkvalleyfrasers.com/