SteppingStone Theatre Presents Irish Music & Dance Celebration

Get Up Your Irish: A Celebration in Music & Dance runs March 11-20, 2011 and is created by Norah Rendell (music) and Natalie O¹Shea (playwright & director)

Choreography by Cormac O'Sé

In this riveting music and dance performance, the story of Irish immigration to Minnesota, as seen through a young boy¹s eyes and experiences. Meticulously researched and rich in local references to the St. Paul of a hundred years ago, this performance remains relevant to issues that face any
immigrants. This joyous and moving performance event celebrates the experiences and explores the universal stories of many immigrants, be they Irish, Hmong or Somali.

These special performances feature the members of the Two Tap Trio with youth performers from O¹Shea Irish Dance and the Center for Irish Music, with some of the best youth performers in the area.

Norah Rendell, member of the Two Tap Trio and co-creator of Get Up Your Irish says, ³It has been incredible to see the young musicians rise to the challenge of learning how to play for Irish Dancers, and to see them taking their music to a new level of expression in the context of a local Irish story. It is exciting to see the students' music and dance skills come alive in the narrative of a play set right here in Saint Paul. There is something for everyone: live music on Irish instruments, highly-skilled Irish Dancers and a story full of themes that anyone, young or old can relate to.

Natalie O'Shea, founder of O'Shea explored the historical aspects of the play: America is a unique petri dish that in the last few hundred years has received many of the world's folk histories, although our urban areas soon contain little evidence of many of those cultures. Each immigrating
ethnicity is accompanied by its own unique tastes, textures and colors the arrival of a new flavor sometimes gives rise to clashes, sometimes to a harmonic diversity, but often within just a few generations these elements are lost, spices diluted in the pot of a homogenous society. The loss of
cultural history is a loss for everyone. These traditions ground us, make our history richer and provide us with a sense of identity ­ of belonging.

O'Shea feels deeply that ³These immigrant stories may vary but the heart of each story is universal. We forget what our own ancestors went though seeking a better life for themselves and their descendants ­ for us. With so much of the story of immigration kept only in an oral tradition, think of what we have already lost. Think of the tales that will never be told... gone with each generation.

O'Shea explains the background for the play, St. Paul's Swede Hollow and Connemara Patch were Œstepping stone neighborhoods; temporary homes where immigrants stayed only until they could afford to move up the hill. It was a place where impoverished newcomers could find cheap housing while they got started. It also served as a refuge for people who had fallen on hard times
and needed a place to stay while they pulled themselves together again. It was a slum which was a mix of many groups, the Irish, the Swedes and other groups who often found themselves in clashes with each other. This play not only explores these clashes, and the rivalry between immigrant groups, but also the joy and hope of a young man¹s dreams, all told through the medium of dance and music.

Performance Information:
All performances of Get Up Your Irish are in SteppingStone Theatre¹s new home, a beautifully renovated 100-year-old architectural gEm Located at 55 Victoria Street North, one block north of Summit Avenue in the Historic Hill District of St. Paul.

Get Up Your Irish is appropriate for all ages. SteppingStone Theatre is fully-accessible to persons with disabilities, and has regularly-scheduled ASL & Audio Described performances. Interpreters can be scheduled for other performances at no additional cost upon request. For information, call
651-225-9265.

Ticket Prices:
Adults: $14.00, Children & Seniors: $10.00
Groups 20+: $7.00 (scholarships available)
Purchase your tickets in advance online and pay just $9.50 per ticket

Performance times and tickets are available at (651) 225-9265 or
www.steppingstonetheatre.org <http://www.steppingstonetheatre.org/> .

Dates & Times
Friday, March 11 ­ 7 pm
Saturday, March 12 ­ 7 pm
Sunday, March 13 ­ 3 pm (ASL Interpreted performance)
Wednesday, March 16 ­ 10 am & noon
Thursday, March 17 ­ 10 am & noon
Friday, March 18 ­ 10 am & noon, 7 pm (Audio Described performance)
Saturday, March 19 ­ 7 pm
Sunday, March 20 ­ 3 pm

About SteppingStone Theatre
SteppingStone Theatre is Saint Paul's professional theatre for young audiences, serving tens of thousands of diverse youth, families and educators each year. The theatre has become a premier destination for affordable theatre education and entertainment, and has received numerous
local and national awards including the Aurand C. Harris Children's Theatre Award, Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Education, the St. Paul Heritage Preservation Award, and won Nickelodeon¹s Parents Connect ³2010 Parents¹ Picks² Award for Best Kid¹s Theatre. A theatre serving nearly 70,000 youth, families, and educators from diverse ethnic, social and economic backgrounds
each year, SteppingStone has become a premier destination for interactive, youth-centered theatre.

SteppingStone Theatre ­ Magic Happens Here!
Affordable, High-Quality Theatre for All Ages

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