UK Show Reviews and Michael Moments - 9
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LINDA: Thank you for your kind comments about my post and transition. Once again you have excelled yourself with your account of events. Loved the joke about Colin Dunne. I do have one issue though. I wish to make it clear that Vanessa has definitely got it worse than me. She is a Raving Looney Flathead (RLF) - Who else goes into a newsagent and buys 10 copies at least of any newspaper containing anything on Michael. Also she has been to so many shows at Wembley that even the car park attendent recognises her and said "You must have been to every one !". I am just a flathead for the moment but very proud of it ! BTW Vanessa and I have just come back from tonights LOTD show and it was fantastic. Michael was on impeccable form tonight. The audience reaction was fabulous and it was Standing O's all round. Vanessa and I even go a few up after Michaels flute solo. I got up at the end of the first half, but have to admit I think I was the only one ! I know Michael enjoys playing LOTD at Wembley thats why he keeps extending. Hope to have our web page up shortly, will have pictures of the Wembley experiences. Love to you all - Brian. Brian 195.147.15.241 <brian@brivan.globalnet.co.uk> Hemel Hempstead, England - Thursday, January 29, 1998 at 16:47:04 (PST)
Saw the show at Wembley. Superb and breathtaking, well worth the long journey! bought the video and cd as well!1 Chris Marcus 195.194.177.28 <c.d.marcus1@student.derby.ac.uk> - Friday, January 30, 1998 at 05:08:01 (PST)
Saw the show at Wembley last night with my children and parents and we all thought it was brilliant. We are watching the video tonight to try to recapture the magic. How about another show for the millenium? (or before preferably) Cathy Price and family 194.74.241.64 <D3333699@infotrade.co.uk> Yateley, Hants UK - Friday, January 30, 1998 at 13:55:10 (PST)
My daughter has become besotted with 'Lord of the Dance,' and my wife took her to see the show at Wembley Arena - my wife was so impressed that we have booked up (including myself, this time!) to go and see the show on the 28th. February. My daughter (Sarah - aged 8) has now enrolled with the Gloucester(UK) and district Irish society, and is learning Irish dancing! What have you done, Michael? - It is going to cost me a fortune in tap shoes! Still, could be worse - she might have liked the 'spice girls'........ PS I've always liked Guiness, so what the hell.... Dave Kilmister 193.113.139.186 - Friday, January 30, 1998 at 14:25:36 (PST)
I Went with Vanessa (again!) to the last of the current Wembley shows on Thursday. Seemed a bit lonely without the gang:- Teri, Larry, Marybeth, Maria, Viv, Alby, and Linda UK who were either at home or on their way back. However we did see Anne and Michelle (they managed front row central again !) and bumped into Heli and Janne after the show so that was nice. The show was absolutely fantastic as ever. It's funny how different aspects of the show affect you on different days. Yesterday I was realising just how beautiful the lighting effects in the show are. The guys that look after that side of things really deserve some praise. It all adds the the immense atmosphere which the show generates. I think the single most beautiful lighting scene is when Anne Buckley is singing "Our Wedding Day". There is a gorgeous combination of Green and Amber lighting which creates a lovely effect which makes the platforms at the side of the stage look like giant christmas tree decorations ! Of course I enjoyed the RED lighting for the Gypsy scene. Amongst others I like the bit when Morighan dances with her shadow. I have to say that LINDA UK's comments about Kelly in that role are absolutely spot on. I think you know by now that I am a Gillan fan, but Kelly really is excellent and in a class of her own. She is definitely going places. I must try and get a photo with her and Bernadette. This marks the beginning of what I call the sexy part of the show, you ladies probably have other ideas though! (I'd love to hear your thoughts on this ladies). Having enjoyed Gypsy, there is the stirring (in may ways) Strings of Fire. Those two violinists not only play beautifully, but they are also very lovely to look at, especially Mairead in those "Spray on" leather trousers (sorry had to mention that again), but Cora looks lovely in her black dress as well. As if that isn't enough we then get into Breakout. This starts off innocently enough, but then there is that decisive moment when Bernadette and the Gang get their own back on Morighan and throw down their clothes so emphatically with an "anything you can do we can do better!" sort of feel. The combination of all those lovely girls, the black underwear and the great music is all too much for a man - Phew !!!!. I like some of the subtle changes which have occured since the show last came to England last year. The ones that come to mind are: the extended opening scene, The little spirit sprinkling fairy dust of Michael at the end of Cry of the Celts (and that Thunderflash !), the little spirit mocking the march of the Dark Lord's Warriors and also creeping up behind Anne Buckley in her second number. The greatest change of all though has to be Michaels Flute playing. He really is such a talented guy. Vanessa has the CD he recorded playing the flute a few years back now. The audience went wild when he was playing. I think it surprises them because they only expect to see him dance. Tenderest moment in the show has to be when Michael mends the little spirits flute and wipes the tears (often real) from her eyes - BTW you are a great actress Helen, your facial expressions say it all throughout you performance. As I said last night Michael was superb. The audience were really behind him and he was lapping it up. By the time we got to the end of the show (which ended with the inevitable standing O) I was on my usual adrenaline high ! Vanessa and I got into the autograph scrum at the end of the show in the Foyer. We succeeded in getting the autograph and I got some pictures of Michael (I hope). We could not stay and wait for him to leave last night due to consideration for our baby sitter. I'll let Vanessa tell the whole story about "the scrum" (She is almost ready to post again now, but the last week has been hectic for her! - and me come to think about it). I'm now looking forward to seeing some more shows, I need another fix badly, there is always the Video, but it's just not the same. BTW I agree it's about time we had a new video - Please Michael . Next stop will probably be Manchester, but we definitely intend to go to most if not all the shows back at Wembley in February. We still haven't seen any news on Michael's surprise. I'm not sure whether LIN's discovery is it or not. Anyway most go now. Love to you all - Brian Brian 194.126.87.142 <brian@brivan.globalnet.co.uk> Hemel Hempstead, - Friday, January 30, 1998 at 15:34:22 (PST)
For the rest of my life I will always think of Monday 27th January 1998 as "Magical Monday". Teri made a beautiful comment about me in her post, which I shall treasure always. She said that if anybody could capture in words the wonder of that night it would be me. Thank you Teri, most sincerely, but I have to say that it simply isn't possible. No words could ever REALLY capture what happened to us, it had to be experienced. It was a dream come true and I still can't believe that I was privileged to be there. It started off as a "normal" VB day with the gang assembling in the Hilton as usual. There were thirteen of us, which I didn't like too much as I'm superstitious, but it turned out not to be a jinx in any way! The party consisted of the same group as on Sunday minus Kate and her hubby. Everybody had tickets for the show, the boys as well. We wandered over to the arena with no idea of the wonders that were in store for us later. Vanessa and I had dreadful seats but it didn't matter, we were there, and that's what counted. Brian had purchased his seat after us and I asked if he would like to sit with Vanessa but he wouldn't hear of it and so sat by himself. Michael got a great welcome when he appeared and it turned out to be quite a good audience, with a long standing ovation at the end. I'm not going to say anymore about the show other than that it went well, with all performers dancing their hearts out for us as usual. What you have to hear about is what happened after the show. We saw some of the cast exit the arena and got various autographs. The highlight for me here was when I asked Helen Egan to sign my original London programme from July 1996. She recognised that it was an old one and when she flipped through and realised that it was from the very first run of programmes her face lit up and she asked me where I had seen the show originally. We spoke about the Coliseum and as a lot of you know already she's an absolute sweetheart. She is so enjoying her time with LOTD and I think that she doesn't quite believe her luck sometimes! Vanessa and I also spotted Cora Smyth and got her autograph too. I was telling Julie the next day how different she looked off stage. She was wearing jeans, great big boots, an old looking workmans type coat and a wooly hat which was pulled down low to her eyebrows. It looked so funny when you think about what she wears on stage. Julie said that she was surprised that we'd recognised her at all, and felt very foolish when I pointed out that it was the violin case she was carrying which gave her away, LOL!! Anne Buckley sped out of the door and, clearly, didn't want to stop so we didn't approach her, maybe next time. We took some pictures as there is a good VB photo spot just outside the arena. There is a flag pole on which they hang two long thin banners, one on each side. One has the LOTD logo and one the Wembley Arena logo so this is a great spot as it says exactly where and what and titles your other pictures wonderfully. At this point Larry gave all the ladies in our party a gift of a LOTD key ring. That was such a sweet thing to do, thank you once again Larry. When I look at it I shan't just think of Michael and the show but of everybody who was there that night and Larry in particular, of course. I'm having the back engraved with the following "Magical Monday, 27th January 1998" We went around to wait for Michael and it was freezing, really freezing. We had such a laugh whilst we were there, the jokes, the teasing and the general high spirits were much in evidence. God, those people were such good company! Alby was a little nervous as she was to finally get her moment with Michael but we jollied her through it quite well, I think. She was putting some lip stick on or was it chap stick? I'm not sure now! Anyway, she made a joke about it sticking to her lips and wouldn't it be awful if she couldn't get it off before Michael came out. I said to tell him that it was a Portuguese custom that when a woman meets a man for the first time she has to have a lip stick hanging on her bottom lip or it's unlucky! Well this was the start of things getting gloriously silly with people chipping in about what else she could do when she met Michael. It ended up that Alby was going to greet Michael by sticking the lip stick up his nose and her index finger in his ear, LOL!! After that we were coming up with all kinds of bad behaviour we could use and explain away by saying that it was a Portuguese custom. Trouble was that Alby had trouble with the word custom and kept saying "costume". This, at the time, was seriously funny, but I guess you had to be there. We also fooled around by coming up with original greetings that we could use when the great man appeared. My favourite was "Hello Michael, would you like to stroke my shamrock, preferably in a circular motion!?" If anybody doesn't get it, take a look at the pictures and see where we were wearing them (VEG) There was a lot of this stuff and I'm hoping that some of the others will remember more. Anyway the spirits got higher as we tried to keep our minds off the cold but it was difficult. By the time Michael finally emerged at 12.45 I felt quite unwell and wasn't too bothered if he stopped or not, to be honest. The bodyguards came out first and positioned themselves where the car would stop so that one would be at each corner, I think. The car sped out and pulled up in front of us. It was full up with Michael, Daire and someone else in the back and a female dancer sitting on the lap of one of the lads in the front. Michael got out on the far side as there were four non-VB fans waiting there and Daire greeted us. They swapped over after a little while and I'm ashamed and sorry to say that I did "the deer in the headlights" impression and stood back in a trance. Looking at him through a car window is one thing, looking at him standing right in front of you is quite another! He seemed so tall to me, remember I'm only 5' 2" and a little bit. (Don't forget the little bit, it's very important to us short people!) He stood up so straight and his eyes were such a piercing blue, it took my breath away. He has such lovely skin, it looks like velvet and you'd never guess that his face was once regularly exposed to the harsh Chicago winter elements whilst he was digging ditches and the like. He was wearing the most beautiful black leather coat with a fur collar, over a suit (I think) and tie. That man looks even more gorgeous than ever when he's dressed up, I've decided that this is how I like Michael to look. He looks great in the bolero jacket too but, Michael dressed to kill is a joy to behold! He seemed larger than life somehow, not a "normal" person at all, which, of course, he isn't. In short, the man is glamorous, everything about him is from the top drawer, everything about him screams "THIS MAN IS A STAR!" I can't remember what his opening words were. I think he thanked us for waiting and said that we must be freezing, something like that. I remember very clearly some of what he said but a lot of it was lost on me because I felt so bad and because I'd turned into that deer. I hope the others can add as much as they remember and between us we might just get across all that passed! There were voices and then Vanessa told him that we were all VB'ers. God, I wish you all could have seen his face, especially his eyes. I was looking straight at them, well where on Earth else would I possibly be looking when Michael Flatley is standing in front of me? His whole face lit up and this was not an act to be "nice" to his fans. The whole expression in his eyes changed from one of "pleased to see ya, thanks for stopping" to one of genuine warmth and affection, like we were old friends that he'd accidentally bumped into. He was positively beaming as he exclaimed "Ah, VB'ers! Magic words!" and stepped into the middle of the group, pulling Vanessa towards him for a kiss and a cuddle. I was so stunned and overjoyed by his reaction that I can't remember a word he said as he gathered as many of us into his arms as he could for a group cuddle. Can you believe that, YES YES YES!!! I was on the outskirts of the group, rooted to the spot and barely functioning so I wasn't one of those in the group cuddle, nor did I get an individual kiss or cuddle as the others did. My fault, I didn't go forward to him, I just couldn't move. In the cold light of day I'm devastated by this, of course, but every cloud has a silver lining and mine was that I was able to observe and study the man. It's strange because although I still see him so clearly, those eyes, that skin, those lips and most important of all his facial expressions as he spoke to us, I can barely remember a word he said. The bodyguards must have been tearing their hair out. Their charge simply forgot about what he's supposed to do on these occasions for his own safety, he forgot about the guy holding the torch for him while he signs autographs formally and he forgot that any one of us could actually have been "a crazy". He just stepped right into the middle of us, his vb'ers, his most loyal and devoted fans, his defenders, his extended family........ HIS FLATHEADS! He was happy, relaxed and totally secure and comfortable in the loving arms of his adoring followers. But that group hug wasn't just for those that were there. I know, we all KNEW that it was symbolic. Michael was embracing the whole VB family. He took each and every member from around the world into his arms and said, "Thank you, I love you." This Michael moment belonged to us all, it was a VB moment. We were just lucky to be the ones that were there. We were ambassadors, representing you all, it was your moment too. There were more voices and still I stayed rooted to the spot. Then Maria introduced Alby and silence fell as she stepped forward. She will tell you of her moment herself and anything she forgets the others will fill in for her. I will say this though as Alby couldn't look into his face and so didn't see his expression. He never took his eyes off her face. She had his total attention and his expression was intense as she spoke to him. I felt sure that his eyes would surely burn her face, they were like lasers. When she had finished I realised that our time was nearly up and that I hadn't spoken or even moved. My camera was still in my pocket as was my flute CD cover, hungry to be signed by it's creator. I snapped out of my trance and as Michael was signing autographs and chatting away I scurried to fish them both out. My own personal Michael moment consisted of me saying "Would you sign this please Michael." Wow! Profound or what!? LOL!!! He didn't register any surprise at seeing the flute CD, we were VB'ers, right? Of course we'd have it, of course we'd have had it specially imported, no surprise at all! As I got my camera out of it's case he was telling us about the big surprise. He said that we had to watch the papers over the next couple of days as there would be a surprise for us, something we'd be very happy to read. It never occurred to any of us to ask him what, I doubt he'd have told us anyway. He was very high, happily I mean, not Guinness! His mood was friendly, warm, teasing and........receptive so I decided to act on something that we'd discussed earlier. I'd said that it would be great if we could get a group photo with Michael as there were so many nations of his family represented. Everybody agreed and suggested that I ask him, yeah right, thanks guys! I couldn't do it. He never got out of the car and I wouldn't put him in the position of having to say no or get out of the car when he might not want to, it was a non starter. But he WAS out of the car, he WAS in a great mood and I thought "Go for it!" His arm was bent at a right angle as he started to turn away and I decided to touch him to be sure that he heard me. (Yes that really WAS the reason! LOL!) I looked down and was surprised to see how small his hands were, small but absolutely perfect, of course. I didn't have the courage to get hold of his hand and so settled for lightly placing my own hand on his his wrist with the safety of the leather coat between us. I said something along the lines of "Michael, there are six nationalities of VB'ers represented here tonight. Would it be possible for us to have a group photo with you please?" He replied, "Yeah, lets do it! Let's get one of everybody together!" He then gathered his flock around him and I, very cheekily, asked one of the bodyguards if he would take one with my camera (G) Now these men were not security guards wearing luminous jackets with "security" printed across the back, who really only open and close gates. These were BIG men wearing suits and ties and ear pieces and microphones, REAL bodyguards! He was taken aback at my request but, by now, they had given up any hope of regaining control of the situation and I think they knew that Michael was in the safest of hands. So he took the camera from me and asked where he should press, LOL! (I got the photos express developed the next day and Michael looks SO happy and relaxed, it's a joy to see.) With that he climbed into the car and called his goodbyes and was gone (Sigh) We were all stunned at what had happened but not into silence, I have to say! We were all eager to talk about it and so decided to go back to the Hilton for a sherbert or two. I think that this may not happen again. I believe that Michael only got out of the car because he was so high about his news of the day. I really don't expect to ever get a cuddle now but, so what. There are many people who will never even see Michael dance live, much less meet him. Vanessa, Brian and myself went up in the car while the others walked. This meant, of course, that we got there much quicker than anybody else. We went into reception and were shocked to see Daire standing just inside the bar with his back towards us talking to someone just out of sight. "Oh God, Vanessa, they're here!" said I. We stopped dead in our tracks and turned back towards the entrance. We assumed that it was Michael he was talking to and didn't want to go in and have them think that we were "pursuing" him. We were discussing what to do and Brian casually wandered over to see if Michael was there or not. He came back to tell us that he wasn't just as the others arrived in reception and so we went on in. It seemed that the entire LOTD company was there apart from the Lord Himself. We all settled down at one end of the bar near the baby grand piano and you would have been proud of us, we didn't let the VB down. We left them alone to enjoy each others company, they were off duty and we were not about to pester them. We sat around reliving the VB moment and trying to guess what the news item would be etc, just a bunch of happy people enjoying great company and great, albeit very recent, memories. Time passed by and then an Indian gentleman, who was a little "tired and emotional" announced that he was going to play the piano and dedicate it to the woman he loved, Ashley (Thirlwell). You've never heard such a racket in your life, poor Ashley! We all joined in the applause, out of relief that he'd finished, I think. The troupe asked someone called Paul to play, I'm sure it was just to keep Patrick out of the way! Yes, the Indian gentleman WAS called Patrick, or maybe that was the nickname the troupe gave him, I don't know. Anyway, gradually different dancers wandered over and chatted with us, they were a really friendly bunch. Des Bailey must surely join the diplomatic corps when his dancing days are over. That young man circulated and made sure he talked to everyone. It didn't matter to him that some of us were old enough to be his parent, he was relaxed and happy in our company. Isn't it lovely when a youngster doesn't just clam up and die of embarrassment when you speak to them? He told Teri and I a funny story about his time in San Diego. He was on a beach and there was a break dancing competition going on. The host was dragging people from the audience to take part and he picked on Des. He didn't have a clue about break dancing and so he did some Irish dancing instead. The crowd didn't know what they were watching but loved it anyway and gave him a big cheer! Isn't that a sweet story? Now, you all think that my Mum is the VB "neck person", WRONG!! Des complained of a stiff neck and so Merrybeth rubbed and massaged it for him! I told him to let me know when he'd had enough and I'd throw a bucket of cold water over her, he definitely seemed to be enjoying it though! LOL!! Anyway John (Bradley?) climbed up on the piano and started to accompany Paul with his bodhran. Now I can't remember what order everything happened in but I'll tell you as I think of it. Liam O'Connor joined the music makers with his accordion and the fun really started, that man knows how to throw a party! The drink was flowing and the atmosphere was great. You know, it must be wonderful to just get up and play an instrument, just jam along with everyone else (sigh) We clapped and cheered and by this time it was only LOTD people in the bar. Most were members of the company, the rest of us dedicated fans, so yes, we were all LOTD people. Liam wanted us to join in some songs but we didn't know the words, so he taught us some very basic mouth music (like they do in Riverdance) and named us the LOTD choir! The "band" played, those that knew the words sang them and the rest of us? Well we made music with our mouths, LOL!! By this time many members of the cast had asked for one of Lisa's arm bands and they tied them on happily to arms or wrists and Liam tied one on to his accordion. WTG LISA!!! John stuck a shamrock inside the rim of his bodhran and promised Maria that it would stay there. One of the funniest of the dancers is Ger (Gerard Hayes, I assume. You don't like to ask who they are exactly, you feel that you should know) That boy just can't stop laughing! He also has the most infectious laugh. His face goes red, his mouth opens wide and no sound comes out, too funny. He did a very funny turn with Liam but there's no way to explain it accurately, I wish I could. John and Des sang a song together, two of the other dancers did a few steps for us. That was a surprise for me. They weren't tapping but doing the steps which allow them to travel across the stage etc. These tall lads covered such a lot of ground with those few steps, their legs seemed to stretch out a long, long way. The movement looked a lot "bigger" up close, very dramatic. More music, more clapping, more cheering, on and on it went. I looked at my watch, turned to Ann and said "This is ridiculous, I just don't DO three in the morning!" Another of the dancers decided it was his turn to play the piano. He said that he always played better without his trousers on and so he took them off, like you do in a public bar, nothing wrong with that at all! (G) He asked for silence and said something like this. "I'm going to play a piece of music that is very special to me now. I might get emotional, just ignore it if I do. " He said everybody had to be completely quiet and sit still. "Now don't forget, this means a lot to me." I thought he was going to sing Danny Boy or something equally moving and just about split my sides with laughter when he started bashing the piano and singing Great Balls Of Fire! We cheered at the end and demanded an encore. He ran to one end of the bar, lifted his arms in the air with index fingers extended and cried "One more time!" Then he ran to the other end and did the same thing. Next he walked backwards to the piano rotating his arm full circle, like he was winding everything up. Does this sound familiar? (G) He played the whole song again, oh and yes, his trousers were back on by now! We had party tricks from one of the riggers and a wardrobe person. We also had people impersonating drunks and falling over, NO I DON'T MEAN THE VB'ERS!! I really can't get across just what fun we had, what fun THEY had, you really had to be there. Something Teri said comes close to summing it up. She said to me "I'm desperate to go to the bathroom but I just don't want to leave!" Nobody wanted to go home but it was now 5AM and we thought that we really had better make a move. Brian had long since given up any hope of going to work. I had long since given up any hope of getting any sleep as I was so high. Teri and Larry were not going to be there the next day so we sadly said our goodbyes and reluctantly left. Brian, Vanessa and I walked across the car park to the accompaniment of the dawn chorus and sadly but excitedly set off for our beds. It was a wonderful night, made even more wonderful by the fact that new friendships were firmly cemented into place. I can't describe how full my heart is when I think of those dear youngsters. Their faces are engraved in my minds eye forever, as are the faces of the VB'ers that lit up the night also. Alby, Ann, Brian, Heli, Janne, Larry, Maria, Merrybeth, Michele, Teri, Vanessa and Viv - I salute you, thanks for some wonderful memories and I hope we meet again sometime. Linda 194.168.63.42 <r.servante@virgin.net> Derby, U.K. - Friday, January 30, 1998 at 18:21:01 (PST)
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