Coming Home for Christmas
Fairytale of New York
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INTERVIEW!
Direct from the West End and after two sell-out tours of the UK and Ireland, Fairytale of New York is continuing its partnership with Tourism Ireland and is back with an even bigger production for 2023
Fairytale of New York
plus
INTERVIEW!
Direct from the West End and after two sell-out tours of the UK and Ireland, Fairytale of New York is continuing its partnership with Tourism Ireland and is back with an even bigger production for 2023
The ultimate feel-good Irish-inspired Christmas show is brought to you by the producers of Seven Drunken Nights - The Story of The Dubliners and features an international cast of singers, musicians and dancers. Fairytale of New York brings you all of your favourite Christmas songs, including Driving Home for Christmas, White Christmas, Oh Holy Night, A Winter’s Tale, Silent Night and of course The Fairytale of New York.
Just when you think the party couldn’t get any better, this world class Christmas show also features some of the greatest Irish singalong songs of all time, including The Galway Girl, The Irish Rover, Danny Boy, Dirty Old Town and The Black Velvet Band, ensuring people of all ages will be singing, laughing and dancing in the aisles.
Set in Central Park, New York on Christmas Eve, Fairytale of New York's musical content is punctuated throughout with a celebratory dose of hard-shoe Irish dancing popularised in the UK via Riverdance, as well as soft-shoe dance. There’s contemporary jazz and pop numbers, too, all of it in the capable hands (and feet) of a cast of eleven dancers, musicians and singers.
To meet demand, the 2023 tour features two casts touring simultaneously. The 85-date tour began in Southport on 31st October and is set to end in Derry on 22nd December. The tour also includes prestigious dates at London’s Dominion Theatre on 3rd December and the AO Arena in Manchester on 4th December. Tickets are available from: www.fairytaleofnewyork.co.uk
The show’s creator Ged Graham conceived the idea during lockdown, when pondering what do you see at the theatre at Christmas when the kids have outgrown panto? His solution was Fairytale of New York, with the star of the show being the show itself.
After launching Fairytale of New York in October 2021, Graham quickly realised he had a hit on his hands, with all tour dates in 2021 and 2022 selling-out.
Despite working in the industry for nearly 50 years, there is no way Graham could have predicted the runaway success of Fairytale of New York. He said, “During lockdown, there was absolutely no guarantee that theatres would ever re-open. I was approaching my 60th birthday and I honestly doubted I’d ever step back on a stage. Then, given that audiences might venture out again, would they like a Christmas show with a strong Irish theme?”
He needn’t have worried. The 2023 tour is now set to build on the show’s incredible success, with nearly all venues already sold-out and the others about to follow suit.
Just when you think the party couldn’t get any better, this world class Christmas show also features some of the greatest Irish singalong songs of all time, including The Galway Girl, The Irish Rover, Danny Boy, Dirty Old Town and The Black Velvet Band, ensuring people of all ages will be singing, laughing and dancing in the aisles.
Set in Central Park, New York on Christmas Eve, Fairytale of New York's musical content is punctuated throughout with a celebratory dose of hard-shoe Irish dancing popularised in the UK via Riverdance, as well as soft-shoe dance. There’s contemporary jazz and pop numbers, too, all of it in the capable hands (and feet) of a cast of eleven dancers, musicians and singers.
To meet demand, the 2023 tour features two casts touring simultaneously. The 85-date tour began in Southport on 31st October and is set to end in Derry on 22nd December. The tour also includes prestigious dates at London’s Dominion Theatre on 3rd December and the AO Arena in Manchester on 4th December. Tickets are available from: www.fairytaleofnewyork.co.uk
The show’s creator Ged Graham conceived the idea during lockdown, when pondering what do you see at the theatre at Christmas when the kids have outgrown panto? His solution was Fairytale of New York, with the star of the show being the show itself.
After launching Fairytale of New York in October 2021, Graham quickly realised he had a hit on his hands, with all tour dates in 2021 and 2022 selling-out.
Despite working in the industry for nearly 50 years, there is no way Graham could have predicted the runaway success of Fairytale of New York. He said, “During lockdown, there was absolutely no guarantee that theatres would ever re-open. I was approaching my 60th birthday and I honestly doubted I’d ever step back on a stage. Then, given that audiences might venture out again, would they like a Christmas show with a strong Irish theme?”
He needn’t have worried. The 2023 tour is now set to build on the show’s incredible success, with nearly all venues already sold-out and the others about to follow suit.
FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK – UK Tour Interview with Ged Graham.
What do you do if you want to take the family – Mum, Dad and three young adults – to the theatre at Christmas when the kids have outgrown panto?
If you’re Ged Graham, you invent a new theatrical genre. The creator of Seven Drunken Nights, the story of the Irish band, the Dubliners, had time to ponder the problem when lockdown meant that no one was going to the theatre at all.
His solution? Fairytale of New York, an evening of Irish song and dance mixed with classic Christmas songs and much-loved carols.
“The star of the show is the show itself,” says Ged, 62. “There are no big names in the production.”
What do you do if you want to take the family – Mum, Dad and three young adults – to the theatre at Christmas when the kids have outgrown panto?
If you’re Ged Graham, you invent a new theatrical genre. The creator of Seven Drunken Nights, the story of the Irish band, the Dubliners, had time to ponder the problem when lockdown meant that no one was going to the theatre at all.
His solution? Fairytale of New York, an evening of Irish song and dance mixed with classic Christmas songs and much-loved carols.
“The star of the show is the show itself,” says Ged, 62. “There are no big names in the production.”
Set in Central Park New York on Christmas Eve, the musical content embraces everything from Last Christmas and Driving Home For Christmas to Silent Night, White Christmas and, of course, the title song itself (albeit with the saltier lyrics discreetly sanitised).
Ged was born in Dublin but moved to Manchester when he was 10. “But I’ve never lost my love of Irish music. Under the umbrella title of the Pogues’s famous song, I decided to put together a festive show with an Irish theme.”
In between the singalong songs, there’s a good dose of hard-shoe Irish dancing popularised in the UK via Riverdance as well as something more soft-shoe, says Ged, something more lyrical. There’s contemporary jazz and pop numbers, too, all of it in the capable hands (and feet) of a cast of eleven: six dancers, four musicians and one female singer
Ged launched the show in October 2021 at Darlington Hippodrome “It was nerve-wracking. I could have lost my shirt and then my house very quickly.
“There was also the spectre of Covid casting a long shadow so we had no real way of knowing whether audiences would be happy to come to a theatre again.”
Rehearsals were problematic, too. “Almost all of the preparation was done via Zoom and Skype, not ideal when you’re putting together a song-and-dance show.”
And Covid also meant certain restrictions for audiences and performers alike. “There was one show in Scotland where the cast had to be socially distanced. It meant dancing no closer than a metre apart. That was certainly a challenge.
“But we found out very quickly via social media that we had a hit on our hands.” With two tours due to launch simultaneously in October, advance tickets sales have been so strong that several venues across the country have already sold-out, with many others about to follow suit.
“For example, we’re at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast Wharf for two nights just before Christmas. It seats 2,500 people and one night has already sold out. I’m not exaggerating when I say we get standing ovations after every performance.
“But then, my ambition from the start was to provide two hours of much-needed escapism.” And you’re more likely to experience it in a theatre, he argues, than via any other art form. “When you go to the theatre, you’re part of the event in a way that you aren’t in a cinema.”
Nor does the show remain unchanged each year. “This time round, for example, we’ve added in a Ronettes medley including some Irish songs which makes it a Celtic Phil Spector kind of sound.”
Last year, there was a big production of the John Lennon song, Merry Christmas, War Is Over. “The reaction was incredible,” says Ged, “so much so that, this year, we’re making it a multi-vocal ensemble piece rather than a solo.
“We encourage the audience to sing along because it’s their Christmas show.” But there’s a potential danger in that. There have been any number of stories recently of shows being ruined for most of the audience when over-enthusiastic theatregoers have been drowning out the singer on stage.
Ged is aware of the pitfalls. “Our show is deliberately designed with peaks and troughs in terms of the musical numbers because, that way, you can influence an audience.
With two tours running at the same time, it may prove a bit of a logistical nightmare. “I was in the show in 2021 and 2022 as principal singer and narrator but, this time round, I won’t be performing. I’ll be dividing my time between the two tours, making sure everything is running to plan.”
The first tour, which kicks off in Southport at the end of October, is playing 45 different venues and that’s not including matinees. It will finish in Derry on December 22.
The second, simultaneous tour will currently play 35 dates although more are being added. It will open in Peterborough on November 1, play three weeks in the UK and then move to Norway before returning to the UK to finish just before Christmas.
Ged was born in Dublin but moved to Manchester when he was 10. “But I’ve never lost my love of Irish music. Under the umbrella title of the Pogues’s famous song, I decided to put together a festive show with an Irish theme.”
In between the singalong songs, there’s a good dose of hard-shoe Irish dancing popularised in the UK via Riverdance as well as something more soft-shoe, says Ged, something more lyrical. There’s contemporary jazz and pop numbers, too, all of it in the capable hands (and feet) of a cast of eleven: six dancers, four musicians and one female singer
Ged launched the show in October 2021 at Darlington Hippodrome “It was nerve-wracking. I could have lost my shirt and then my house very quickly.
“There was also the spectre of Covid casting a long shadow so we had no real way of knowing whether audiences would be happy to come to a theatre again.”
Rehearsals were problematic, too. “Almost all of the preparation was done via Zoom and Skype, not ideal when you’re putting together a song-and-dance show.”
And Covid also meant certain restrictions for audiences and performers alike. “There was one show in Scotland where the cast had to be socially distanced. It meant dancing no closer than a metre apart. That was certainly a challenge.
“But we found out very quickly via social media that we had a hit on our hands.” With two tours due to launch simultaneously in October, advance tickets sales have been so strong that several venues across the country have already sold-out, with many others about to follow suit.
“For example, we’re at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast Wharf for two nights just before Christmas. It seats 2,500 people and one night has already sold out. I’m not exaggerating when I say we get standing ovations after every performance.
“But then, my ambition from the start was to provide two hours of much-needed escapism.” And you’re more likely to experience it in a theatre, he argues, than via any other art form. “When you go to the theatre, you’re part of the event in a way that you aren’t in a cinema.”
Nor does the show remain unchanged each year. “This time round, for example, we’ve added in a Ronettes medley including some Irish songs which makes it a Celtic Phil Spector kind of sound.”
Last year, there was a big production of the John Lennon song, Merry Christmas, War Is Over. “The reaction was incredible,” says Ged, “so much so that, this year, we’re making it a multi-vocal ensemble piece rather than a solo.
“We encourage the audience to sing along because it’s their Christmas show.” But there’s a potential danger in that. There have been any number of stories recently of shows being ruined for most of the audience when over-enthusiastic theatregoers have been drowning out the singer on stage.
Ged is aware of the pitfalls. “Our show is deliberately designed with peaks and troughs in terms of the musical numbers because, that way, you can influence an audience.
With two tours running at the same time, it may prove a bit of a logistical nightmare. “I was in the show in 2021 and 2022 as principal singer and narrator but, this time round, I won’t be performing. I’ll be dividing my time between the two tours, making sure everything is running to plan.”
The first tour, which kicks off in Southport at the end of October, is playing 45 different venues and that’s not including matinees. It will finish in Derry on December 22.
The second, simultaneous tour will currently play 35 dates although more are being added. It will open in Peterborough on November 1, play three weeks in the UK and then move to Norway before returning to the UK to finish just before Christmas.
Ged has been in the business for the better part of 50 years, he says. Even so, there is no way he could have predicted the runaway success of, first, Seven Drunken Nights, and now Fairytale of New York.
“During lockdown, there was absolutely no guarantee that theatres would ever re-open. I was approaching my 60th birthday and I honestly doubted I’d ever step back on a stage. Then, given that audiences might venture out again, would they like a Christmas show with a strong Irish theme?”
He needn’t have worried. The reaction has been pretty universal the length and breadth of the land. “That said, where there’s a greater concentration of Irish people – Liverpool, for instance, Manchester and Glasgow – the reception is a bit more vocal, let’s say.”
Presumably, the theatre staff have to keep an eye on any lads who might have had a bit of a skinful before curtain up? Not a bit of it, says Ged. “The ones to watch are the ladies who might have been tucking into the Prosecco.
“Hen nights are always a challenge.,” he chuckles. “Give me a group of lads any time!”
For tour details: www.fairytaleofnewyork.co.uk
“During lockdown, there was absolutely no guarantee that theatres would ever re-open. I was approaching my 60th birthday and I honestly doubted I’d ever step back on a stage. Then, given that audiences might venture out again, would they like a Christmas show with a strong Irish theme?”
He needn’t have worried. The reaction has been pretty universal the length and breadth of the land. “That said, where there’s a greater concentration of Irish people – Liverpool, for instance, Manchester and Glasgow – the reception is a bit more vocal, let’s say.”
Presumably, the theatre staff have to keep an eye on any lads who might have had a bit of a skinful before curtain up? Not a bit of it, says Ged. “The ones to watch are the ladies who might have been tucking into the Prosecco.
“Hen nights are always a challenge.,” he chuckles. “Give me a group of lads any time!”
For tour details: www.fairytaleofnewyork.co.uk
The full list of 2023 tour dates for Fairytale of New York is as follows:
October
31st Southport The Atkinson
November
1st Peterborough New Theatre
1st Derby Arena
2nd Weston-super-Mare The Playhouse Theatre
2nd Doncaster CAST Theatre (Matinee)
2nd Doncaster CAST Theatre (PM)
3rd Shrewsbury Theatre Severn (Matinee)
3rd Shrewsbury Theatre Severn (PM)
3rd Skegness Embassy Theatre
4th Liverpool Empire Theatre (Matinee)
4th Liverpool Empire Theatre (PM)
4th Southsea Kings Theatre
5th Wimbledon New Wimbledon Theatre
5th Dunstable Grove
6th Lichfield Garrick Theatre
6th Buxton Opera House
7th Lichfield Garrick Theatre (Matinee)
7th Lichfield Garrick Theatre (PM)
7th Llandudno Venue Cymru
8th Weymouth Pavilion*
8th Scunthorpe Baths Hall
9th Basingstoke Anvil Arts
10th Blackpool Grand Theatre
11th Windsor Theatre Royal (Matinee)
11th Windsor Theatre Royal (PM)
11th Woking New Victoria Theatre (Matinee)
11th Woking New Victoria Theatre (PM)
12th Carlisle Sands Centre
12th Colchester Charter Hall
13th Chatham Central Theatre
13th Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Theatre
14th York Grand Opera House (Matinee)
14th York Grand Opera House (PM)
14th Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Theatre
15th Ramsgate Granville Theatre
15th Birmingham Alexandra (Matinee)
15th Birmingham Alexandra (PM)
16th Ramsgate Granville Theatre
16th Kings Lynn Corn Exchange
17th Cardiff St David's Hall (Matinee)
17th Cardiff St David's Hall (PM)
18th Reading The Hexagon
18th Stevenage Concert Hall (Matinee)
18th Stevenage Concert Hall (PM)
19th Dartford Orchard Theatre
20th Nottingham Concert Hall
21st Oxford New Theatre (Matinee)
21st Oxford New Theatre (PM)
22nd Crawley The Hawth
23rd Stockton Globe Theatre
24th Stockton Globe Theatre
26th Glasgow Concert Hall (Matinee)
26th Glasgow Concert Hall (PM)
27th Darlington Hippodrome
28th Southend Cliffs Pavilion
29th Leicester De Montfort Hall (Matinee)
29th Leicester De Montfort Hall (PM)
30th Eastbourne Congress
December
1st Torquay Princess Theatre
2nd Hull City Hall
3rd London Dominion Theatre
4th Manchester AO Arena
6th Bradford St George's Hall
7th Ipswich Regent Theatre
8th Sheffield City Hall
9th Edinburgh Usher Hall (Matinee)
9th Edinburgh Usher Hall (PM)
10th Poole Lighthouse Theatre
13th Cheltenham Town Hall
14th Brighton Theatre Royal
14th Stoke Victoria Hall (Matinee)
14th Stoke Victoria Hall (PM)
15th Brighton Theatre Royal
15th Dundee Caird Hall
16th Aberdeen Music Hall (Matinee)
16th Aberdeen Music Hall (PM)
17th Perth Concert Hall
18th Killarney Gleneagle INEC Arena
18th Gateshead Glasshouse International Centre For Music (Matinee)
19th Gateshead Glasshouse International Centre For Music (PM)
19th Belfast Waterfront Hall
20th Belfast Waterfront Hall (Matinee)
20th Belfast Waterfront Hall (PM)
21st Dublin Helix
22nd Derry Millennium Forum Theatre
www.fairytaleofnewyork.co.uk