Published on Jul 6, 2000
It was a few years ago that the phenomenon that is “Riverdance”
took the nation by storm. And already, it’s starting to wear out
its welcome.
I say this not because I’m sick of the Irish music – hell, I
love Irish music. And it’s not that I’m sick of the dancers,
although I know that if I ever tried any of the moves they did,
people would be rushing me to the hospital for a heart attack and
because I somehow wrapped my legs around my head.
But when we get to the point of building a Broadway show around
“Riverdance,” well, that just seems to be too much of a good thing.
And as the soundtrack to the show,
Riverdance On Broadway, proves, some things just shouldn’t
be tampered with, like the formula for Coca-Cola or
“Dudley-Do-Right”.
Musically, there are some incredible pieces on this disc, and
composer Bill Whelan is to be commended for such pieces as
“Firedance” and “The Countess Cathless / Women On The Sidhe” which
throw things into overdrive to catch the spirit of the original
production and keep things sounding fresh.
But there are two unique problems with
Riverdance On Broadway. First, no matter how hard this disc
tries, it fails to capture the essence of the actual show (which,
I’ll admit, I haven’t seen – Broadway is much farther from me than
the Wisconsin border). With the exception of capturing the Irish
feel at times, how do you translate a largely visual extravaganza
to compact disc? They’ve been able to do it before, but with this
particular outing, it just falls flat.
Second, some of the pieces really don’t sound like they fit very
well. Admittedly, I’ve not followed the whole “Riverdance” saga
since Michael Flatley first made it a household name, so I could
well be talking out of my hat at times. But I don’t really see how
a gospel track such as “Let Freedom Ring” fits in with the Gaelic
chants of songs like “Shivna”.
And for that matter, I really hate to say this, but the truth
must be known – the choral group Anúna sounds like they were
lifted from “FM 100” Muzak stations. The last time I heard vocal
harmonies like that was on the Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Band’s
Christmas album – and I don’t mean that to be a compliment. It’s
saccharine sweet to the point of being nauseating.
I guess what bothers me about
Riverdance On Broadway is that, judging from the soundtrack,
I get the impression that they’re moving away from what the core of
the original “Riverdance” was, and are trying to breathe new life
into the experience in order to keep things fresh. If this is
indeed the case, then I’m begging those involved: let it die with
dignity. There’s no shame in admitting that something has run its
course. The shame is trying to keep it propped up unnaturally to
milk another year or so out of it. Sadly, that’s the vibe I’m
getting with
Riverdance On Broadway.