Studio2Stage 2015 then some downtime...

Haley and Dylan at dress rehearsal.

It's been awhile since I blogged. July was an incredibly busy month. We spent four days home, during which I worked all day long, after Swannanoa then the following Friday, I took Haley and Dylan up to Kean University for Studio2Stage 2015.

Haley did Studio2Stage last year and had the time of her life. She even talked Dylan into going this year by appealing to his love of music ("Dylan there are 80 beautiful dancers and only a few boys.")….he did not regret the decision to go one bit.

In the six weeks prior, they learned and practiced all the tunes and songs for the show together. Some were the same as last year and others were newly composed. Haley helped Dylan with figure out the arrangements and how it was all supposed to sound.

They spent the first few days at camp working with the other band member on the arrangements, harmonies, back up vocals,  etc…By Tuesday, they had all the music ready to go and the rest of the week they performed the music for the dancers and worked out their stage arrangements in rehearsals leading up to the shows on Sunday.

Photo by James Greenan, dancer extraordinaire!

It was work but also a lot of fun. One night they had a quiz night and divided the kids onto teams then gave out prizes. Another night was an Oscar's Night where everyone dressed up and they handed out awards then had a dance and pizza. Last year, Haley was too young to stay on campus so I went back each night and picked her up. We stayed with friends who live five minutes from campus. This year they had no problem with her being on campus so she had a room but I still went and picked her up a few nights so she'd get some sleep.

Boys at Oscar's Night.

Girls at Oscar's Night.

On Friday, I joined them on their trip to New York City. Yes, they trudged 90-something young dancers and musicians onto the train from NJ to NYC, then we walked to Times Square where they performed a number in the middle of Times Square (which luckily ended just as a police officer began to question the man in charge), then back to the train and Kean University. There's a little video of the train ride at the end of this post!!! Fun!!!

The musicians in NYC…

 Eventually the week had to come to an end. They did a dress rehearsal on Saturday then two shows on Sunday. The shows were fabulous! My son, who was reluctant to go to camp initially, now would love to tour the world with an Irish dance show.

Musicians after the show!

This year we were unable to swing the trip to Ireland for the All Ireland competition. We are watching it and enjoying it vicariously through Facebook and rooting for friends who are over there competing this weekend. Without the trip, our August is fairly quiet and calm for a change. Last weekend we actually had an entire day and a half home to clean and catch up on things. I planned the school year for the kids (I'll post that in another post) as well.

Last Sunday afternoon, Haley joined Miss Kathy at the Jersey Fresh Festival where she had a great time (and got over her fear of large furry costumed things) fiddling for the Philly Phanatic…

 This weekend we are home…though we might just sneak into the city for a session tomorrow since my kids can't be away from Irish music too long without going through withdrawal.

The kids' keep marking their wall calendar when we receive notice their album is being played on the radio in different locations. Last weekend, their music was heard as far as Western Canada, Hawaii, and Australia!!!

Studio2Stage takes NJTransit with Liam O'Sullivan, Haley Richardson Haley Richardson Music), Dylan Richardson, Alex Weir, Michelle Lee, Jim Murrihy, Anthony Davis, Aidan Garvey, Miriam Lee
Posted by Donna Richardson on Sunday, August 2, 2015