St. Patrick Irish music and dance event coming to Legends

VERNON - A stage that once featured legendary stars like Sammy Davis Junior and other famous international performers will be the setting for what could be one of the largest assemblies of local talent ever to gather together during a single evening. Warwick artist, performer and businesswoman Rosita Gilsenan has partnered with NSB (Next Stop Broadway) Productions, a local musical theater group directed by Kathie Andreas and Sergio Candido, to present "A Magical Evening of Irish Music and Dance." The gala event will be held on St Patrick's Night, March 17, at the former Playboy Club, now known as Legend's Cabaret Lounge in Vernon, NJ. Although dinner is optional, corned beef and cabbage, Irish coffee and Irish soda bread will be served from 7 - 8 p.m. The show starts promptly at 8 p.m. Emcees Terry and Pat Colman will introduce the performers including members of the Kerrydance Dancing School, the Women's chorus from the Warwick School of Music, the Warwick Middle School Fiddle Club, a host of individual singers and performers including Gilsenan, with her harp; musicians from the nationally known Irish band, Emish, and dancers from The Moving Company. Alina Grzegorwewski, formally of the Dancer's Studio in Warwick will present an original choreography combining her two passions, ballet and Irish dancing. One of the highlights of the evening will be Flamenco dancer Sheila Bucci, a native of Argentina. In a fashion reminiscent of one of the performances in the famed production, "Riverdance," Bucci will dance with Irish step dancers Coleen and Shannon Gleason to the music of the show, "Gaelforce," demonstrating the close links between Irish and Spanish traditional dancing. Bucci currently dances with Jubilee Productions in Warwick. "The impulse to organize this show came from a collaboration I had with NSB Productions," said Gilsenan. "And that idea combined with a desire to bring together lovers of Irish culture has now become a reality." Gilsenan recently performed in NSB's Valentines Cabaret and she is now in the company's Off-Broadway Production of "Broadway Good and Evil" as well as an upcoming performance of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Lycian Theatre in Sugar Loaf. "We consider ourselves lucky to have found such good talent," said Andreas, "and we hope to find many more interested individuals to be a part of our journey into the arts." Tickets to "A Magical Evening of Irish Music and Dance." are $12 - $15 per person and can be ordered by calling (845) 738 2391 or by email at: nsbproductions@optonline.net