Last year’s winning wren hat.
Christmas is on Thursday and we hope that all of you will be spending the day with loved ones or, if you can’t, at least doing something you love. Before then, many of you (and many of us) will be finishing up the shopping you foolishly put off for months. Take a few seconds in those harried hours to do something nice for somebody, including yourself. Someone did that for me this week, and I can tell you that it’s a gift without equal. And you don’t have to wrap it. (Now, where IS that tape?)
If you have the time, go see “Outside Mullingar,” the play by John Patrick Shanley at the Suzanne Roberts Theater in Philadelphia that’s getting stellar reviews.
Tyrone-born singer Raymond Coleman is returning to Philly on Saturday night to launch his new CD, Trouble with a T, at the Plough and the Stars, where he spent many hours (singing!) when he lived in our city. We miss him and love it when he pays us a visit.
This weekend, Paddy’s Well is having a reunion show on Sunday starting at 3:30 PM at Brittingham’s in Lafayette Hill, their old first Friday haunt which has gotten a spectacular reno by the new owners. Also on Sunday, the Broken Shillelaghs will be headlining the holiday party at Marty Magee’s in Prospect Park starting at 7 PM. They’ll also be doing a Christmas show on December 23 at Westbrook Lanes in Woodlawn, NJ.
Also on Sunday, several Celtic artists will be performing both chamber and contemporary Celtic music at Sellersville Theatre, including award-winning guitarist Phil Keaggy, Jeff Johnson, flutist Brian Dunning, and violinist Wendy Goodwin.
The day after Christmas (Friday, Dec 26) Comhaltas is holding it’s annual Wren Party at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Glenside. It’s a really traditional Irish event celebrating the feast of St. Stephen who, legend has it, became a martyr because he was betrayed by a wren. There will be lots of topnotch music from many performers and we hear that the fabulous accordionist John Whelan will be making an appearance. He’s coming down from his Connectcut home just to have fun, but he’ll also likely be coaxed into play a tune or two, possibly with his young sometime duet partner fiddler Haley Richardson. That’s just what we hear. There will also be a wren hat contest and if you look at the photo with this article, you’ll see what I’m talking about. As they say on ‘Portlandia,” “put a bird on it.” I was a judge last year – I may enter this year!
Speaking for myself, Jeff Meade, and Lori Lander Murphy (without their permission, of course), we wish you a very happy Christmas and a blessed New Year!
