Fun_People Archive
1 Jun
"Is nothing sacred?" -Milli Vanilli

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Mon,  1 Jun 98 12:58:30 -0700
To: Fun_People
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Subject: "Is nothing sacred?" -Milli Vanilli

X-Lib-of-Cong-ISSN: 1098-7649
[No, it doesn't surprise me, either...  -psl]

Forwarded-by: "Blech, Kerry E" <Kerry.Blech@PSS.Boeing.com>
Forwarded-by: Mary Katherine Aldin MKAldin@aol.com

	Report: Riverdance sound is prerecorded

    LONDON, May 31 (UPI) The Irish dance show Riverdance, which swept from
Europe across the Atlantic to high popularity in the United States in 1994,
acknowledged the sound of its tap dancing is prerecorded.
    Riverdance Executive Producer Julian Erskine, in an interview published
today in the British newspaper The Sunday Times, says the sound for live
performances is recorded in advance "to give the audience the best possible
product."
    And on British radio today, he said audiences have become so demanding
they expect perfect performances every night, in large arenas where the
sound of dancing fails to reach the back seats.
    He says, "We discovered that if we did not do it the audience was not
happy."
    Riverdance, made famous with its star Michael Flatley, became so popular
after appearances in 1994 that the company was soon playing to audiences of
up to 20,000.
    Flatley left the show in 1995 after a contractual disagreement and went
on to set up Lord of the Dance as a rival outfit.
    The Sunday Times reports that while the dancers still perform all the
routines, only the audience in the first few rows actually hear live
dancing.
    Everyone else hears tapes of prerecorded taps.
    Erskine also says much of the singing is also prerecorded.  He said
today: "Irish dancing had never reached this sort of audience before and
the sound of shoes on a stage does not carry. We are simply into providing
quality."
    The disclosure has many in the music industry commenting.
    Irish Folk Dance Company choreographer Lillian Massey said, "It doesn't
surprise me that it happens, but it just shows how commercial the whole
operation has become."
    Riverdance has become so successful that there are now eight versions,
official and imitation, touring the world.
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