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On Eagle's Wing
Musical set for Atlanta premiere
by Billy Kennedy 
On Eagle's Wing is really taking off in the United States, with the first showings of the Ulster-Scots musical planned for Atlanta in Georgia on Friday-Saturday May 7-8. The two-hour spectactular then heads to Jacksonville, Florida on Friday-Saturday May 14-15 and Baltimore on Tuesday-Wednesday May 18-19, and it will then be presented at the 10,000-seater Odyssey Areana in Belfast on Friday-Saturday May 28-29. The musical, a celebration of Ulster-Scots (Ulster-Scots) history over 500 years, is written and directed by leading Northern Ireland musician and composer John Anderson, for many years producer-director for Ulster Television and the BBC.
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Musician John Anderson and his stage production On Eagle's Wing. |
It tells the absorbing story of 18th century Presbyterian emigration from Ulster to America.
There has been considerable interest in the musical in the United States and the Atlanta premiere is eagerly awaited by people in large Scots-Irish diaspora in the Appalachian states.
The fast-flowing musical will be narratted by world-renowned Ulster singer Peter Corry
A huge cast of up to 500 people - actors, dancers, singers and production and technical staff - will take part, together with Northern Ireland champion piper Robert Watt, who won the major piping awards at the Stone Mountain Highland Games in Atlanta on October 18-19.
The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Carryduff will take the stage at the Belfast shows.
Tickets for the Odyssey shows in Belfast on May 28-29 will go on sale next Thursday (November 6), and keen interest is expected.
On Eagles Wing is an innovative idea which John Anderson has been working on for some considerable time and he is very pleased with the progress it has made, both at home and in the United States.
"The setting of the musical is both the past and the present. The themes are timeless and universal, with two sides to the story: the Scots who came to Ulster from the late 1500s onwards and then emigrated again, to places like America. And the Scots who stayed in Ulster," says John.
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Antrim gathering
Burnside Ulster-Scots Society in Antrim is planning a gathering of Ulster-Scots groups from Co Antrim on Saturday September 26 next.
The gathering will take the form of band competitions, strength contests, Scottish dancing, stalls, exhibitions, craft marquees and a Lambeg drumming contest.
Groups wishing to take part should contact: Jim Armstrong, 134, Caulside Park, Antrim BT41 2DT. Telephone - 028-9446-1134.
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