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Title: Clan Ahead Celtic Woman Doing A Dance Of Its Own Post by: Don on June 28, 2009, 06:05:24 PM (https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d129/Penny_man/258pbn5_zpsdgn6gj82.jpg)
Celtic Woman: Lisa Kelly, Lynn Hilary, Chloë Agnew, Alex Sharpe, (on floor) Máiréad Nesbitt Chloe Agnew has spent more than a quarter of her life as a part of the show "Celtic Woman." "I had just turned 14 when I first got the call to be a part of this," Agnew said, during a telephone interview from somewhere in Indiana, where the current "Celtic Woman" tour is preparing for a show. "We filmed the first special and made the first album when I was 15, and I just turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. So I suppose I have sort of grown up with the Chloe Agnew has spent more than a quarter of her life as a part of the show "Celtic Woman." "I had just turned 14 when I first got the call to be a part of this," Agnew said, during a telephone interview from somewhere in Indiana, where the current "Celtic Woman" tour is preparing for a show. "We filmed the first special and made the first album when I was 15, and I just turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. So I suppose I have sort of grown up with the show." But then, Agnew was something of a show business veteran before she became part of what has become Ireland's most popular entertainment export since "Riverdance." Her parents were both performers in Ireland, and Agnew began singing and dancing at a very young age. "When I was about 11," she said, "I saw this appeal on television for children to donate their pocket money to help the children who were victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and for the children of Afghanistan. "Well, I thought that singing was what I did best, so I rather cheekily rang up David Downes (now the music director of "Celtic Woman") and asked him to help me record a Christmas song. And it ended up raising about $40,000." It also meant that Downes would remember Agnew when it came time to put together "Celtic Woman." The show revolves around a quartet of singers — Agnew, Lisa Kelly, Alex Sharpe and Lynn Hilary — plus fiddler Mairead Nesbitt and mixes together classical pieces, traditional Irish tunes, contemporary pop songs and original compositions. It was created in 2004 by Downes, and quickly became an international hit. One of the major factors for the success of "Celtic Woman" has been PBS, and the more than 300 individual stations that have broadcast the original special some 3,400 times. That led to the "Celtic Woman" albums topping the Billboard World Music charts for a record 95 consecutive weeks. And it inspired the group's most recent recording — a single titled "O America." "It's our way of thanking America for being the first country to really accept us," Agnew said. "America has really become our second home — we spend more time here than we do in Ireland." That certain song The Tulsa show at the Mabee Center will be one of the last shows of the current tour, titled "Isle of Hope." It features a number of songs that are signatures of "Celtic Woman," such the group's cover version of Enya's "Orinoco Flow" and "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Grobin. But it also includes some songs that the women of "Celtic Woman" suggested, such as "When You Believe," from the soundtrack to the Disney film "Prince of Egypt," which Agnew suggested be added to the show. "We are getting to have more input in what going to be in the show," she said. "But really, David has worked with all of us before 'Celtic Woman,' and he's really brilliant at choosing music that suits us as a group and as individuals. "And that's the whole point of this show the beauty of the music," Agnew said. "Yes, there are a lot of lights and pretty dresses and all that. But the thing that people respond to is the music, and how it affects them. "I doubt people really remember the look of the show, but they always remember a certain song." Celtic Woman When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday Where: Mabee Center, 7777 S. Lewis Ave. Tickets: $47-$68. Call 495-6000 or online at tulsaworld.com/mabee By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer Published: 6/28/2009 2:19 AM Last Modified: 6/28/2009 4:33 AM Tulsa, OK |