Charlie's Celtic Angels sing divine
Man behind Barra MacNeils Christmas special brings out the fiddlers and dancers
By Dean Lisk
Charlie Cahill said from day one, the obvious jokes about him and his angels were there.
"Absolutely, it had to happen," said the producer of Celtic Angels At Christmas. "I am so proud to be associated with these angels."
Airing on VisionTV this week, the show features a collection of six women - singers, step dancers, and fiddlers - sharing a selection classic Celtic carols.
"They do like Christmas music specials," said Cahill about VisionTV, explaining they approached him about putting together a holiday special in late 2005.
His Halifax-based New Scotland Pictures was also behind the Barra MacNeils Christmas special in 2000.
Female stars
"They said their audience did like Celtic music," he said "We sort of came up with the idea of making it female stars, and call them Celtic Angels."
Cahill, along with musical director Declan O'Doherty, spent the winter and spring developing the show and casting his angels.
Singing in the special are Prince Edward Island's Patricia Murray, Cape Breton's Stephanie Hardy, and Scottish vocalist and harpist Maggie MacInnes.
They're joined by fiddlers Gillian Boucher and Kendra MacGillivray, dancer Sandra MacGillivray, and a group of "wee angel" step dancers.
"We were able to start shooting in August," said Cahill. "So, it was Christmas in August this year."
Even though it was the middle of summer, Hardy said she didn't find it hard getting into the yuletide spirit.
"Everything on the set was Christmas, so as soon as you got there it felt like Christmas," she said, adding her favourite part was getting to sing I Wonder as I Wander.
"Most of the versions I've heard are slow ballads, which are beautiful. But I wanted to do something with this song to make it more upbeat," she said. "It also sounds more pop modern, rather then classic.
"Christmas songs are done all the time, so it is nice to see a new spin on the classics."
Part of the reason for the spin, says Cahill, was that his angels were asked to suggest songs they would like to sing.
He and O'Doherty then shortened the list, dealing with song tempo issues, music rights, and working out the arrangements.
"The best part of doing these things is getting to watch the talent work together," Cahill said. "To some extent, it is a recipe for disaster or a recipe for success, and we have been pretty lucky."
Diva-free
He said once everyone got together in Halifax to rehearse, all the angels suggested other ways they could work together and help each other with their songs.
"There were no divas on this one, they were just great, talented people," he said.
