Celtic Thunder celebrates St. Patrick's Day with Greensburg show

Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, or so the saying goes.

Celtic Thunder will help a Greensburg audience celebrate its Irish roots — real or imagined — with a concert at 8 p.m. March 16 in The Palace Theatre.

The group will present a brand-new revue show revisiting their most popular Irish and Celtic songs of the past decade and celebrating the influence of Irish and Celtic music around the world.

Having 2½ years away from touring during the pandemic had at least one benefit for the group’s four solo artists, said original member Ryan Kelly.

“In times like that, you’re forced to reflect on what you’re doing. And in preparing for this show, we said we wanted to go back to our roots, basically, and that’s what we’ve done,” he said. “The four of us who are the principal singers, we’ve never been more influential in choosing the music we’re performing, along with our musical director.”

Celtic Thunder’s other solo artists are Neil Byrne, Emmet Cahill and Damian McGinty.

“People who’ve seen us before on public television and the like, they’ve seen us performing more modern songs,” he said. “This time around, we’re very much going back to basics and making it an Irish celebration — classic Irish songs, songs we’ve performed before and songs we’ve never performed but have always wanted to.”

Solo and ensemble numbers will include beloved airs like “Danny Boy” and “Toora Loora Lay,” along with fast-paced and upbeat songs like “A Place in The Choir,” “The Galway Girl” and “Raggle Taggle Gypsy”; the classic ballads “Mountains of Mourne” and “The Wild Rover”; and love songs such as “She Moved Through the Fair.”

“The one thing I personally love about this show is that it’s really full of energy,” Kelly said. “The comments we’ve gotten from earlier shows on the tour are that, ‘We’ve never seen you look so happy on stage and enjoying it so much.’ I think it has a lot to do with that we haven’t been on stage in so long, but also that we’re loving the material, and that does come across.”

The singers are backed by the Celtic Thunder Band and many of the numbers are choreographed. The audience is sometimes invited to sing along.

“I know, as an audience member myself when I go to a concert, I want to be part of it. I want to be involved,” Kelly said. “So I don’t think the show stops at the edge of the stage. Everyone is part of the whole show.”

While Kelly said the stage production doesn’t resort to “lasers and holograms,” there are projections of beautiful Irish landscapes to set the mood.

Producer Sharon Browne filmed the first Celtic Thunder show in Dublin, Ireland, in 2007.

The concept was to feature male performers from Ireland and Scotland, with ages ranging from 21 to 42, singing songs that celebrate a common Celtic heritage.

The group’s first North American tour followed in 2008. Multiple international tours, recordings and television appearances have followed.

Celtic Thunder has been hailed five times as Billboard’s Top World Music Artist, has been designated as the trade magazine’s Top World Music Imprint and also received Top World Album honors in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2016.

The revue has played Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center and last appeared at The Palace in September 2018.

“We’ve always had great crowds coming to Pennsylvania, and it’s timely to be there for St. Patrick’s Day in this beautiful theater,” Kelly said. “It couldn’t have worked out any better.”

The Palace show will be the last in a series of make-up dates from appearances cancelled from 2020. It was originally scheduled for Nov. 23, 2020, and then postponed from Dec. 14.

Tickets from the original date will be honored.

“For people who may have seen us before, or for anyone else, it’s the perfect time to see our show on the day before St. Patrick’s Day,” Kelly said. “We’re gonna have fun and it’s one of the final shows on the tour, so it’s gonna be a massive party.”

Tickets are $49 to $75 in advance, with an additional $5 or $6 per ticket at the door.

For tickets and information, call 724-836-8000 or visit thepalacetheatre.org.