Christmas with The Celts celebrating the season
NEWTON — The Newton Theatre presents Christmas with The Celts on Friday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m.
Christmas with The Celts is a production hosted by the world renowned Irish music group The Celts, with music, dancing, theatrics, and Irish humor. The music is a blend of ancient traditional Irish and Scottish Christmas Carols with American Christmas favorites, performed with Irish instrumentation.
Christmas With The Celts is the brainchild of producer Ric Blair. Blair reigns as one the country's most respected purveyors of Celtic music. American-born he credits the popularity of Christmas With The Celts to both the nationwide broadcasting of the show as a PBS-TV special and the blend of Celtic traditions with 21st century songs and sounds.
The high-stepping spirited musical selections range from classic Irish reels that will have audiences clapping along, to some ancient hymns and lively renditions of popular contemporary Christmas classics: "Silent Night," "Little Drummer Boy," "Count Your Blessings," "First Noel," "I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas" and John Lennon’s perennial "Happy Christmas."
"I'm proud of my Irish/Scottish roots, but I'm equally proud of my American roots”, explains Blair, “Our music is kind of a hybrid that's evolved between the two."
The Celts' lineup features founder Ric Blair on vocals, guitars, bodhran, and piano, Laura McGhee from Scotland on vocals and Scottish Fiddle, plus an ensemble of world class musicians playing uilleann pipes, Irish whistles, drums, mandolin, banjo plus the Irish step dancers.
"Christmas with The Celts isn’t just a concert; it is a celebration of the holiday spirit, people, community and common connections. It’s about bringing young and old together to celebrate this special time of year," says Blair.
"Our goal is to have people forget about their problems for a while," adds Blair. "You just can't listen to Celtic music and not be happy.”
"One of my favorite songs is the ancient 16th century Scottish Christmas carol 'Balulalow'," says Blair. "That song is sung in the broadscot dialect, which is a mixture of English and Gaelic."
Other notable songs resurrected by Blair include the 15th century Scottish carol "Da' Day Dawis" and the 12th century Irish Wexford Carol, which the band performs alongside Celtic renditions of better-known Christmas tunes like "I’ll Be Home For Christmas," "Count Your Blessings (Instead Of Sheep)," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Joy to the World" and other crowd pleasers.
Tickets for Christmas with The Celts range from $24 to $49. Purchase tickets by visiting www.thenewtontheatre.com or contact the box office at 973-383-3700.
The historic Newton Theatre, located at 234 Spring Street in Newton.