The recent renos of the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall may not have included a pantry, dining table and oven but they weren’t needed for Natalie MacMaster, Donnell Leahy and their all singin’, all fiddlin’, all dancin’ offspring to turn the place into the biggest kitchen party this side of Cape Breton!
Insert an elated sigh and goofy grin on this reviewer’s kisser because A Celtic Family Christmas was back in town last night. You know, I’ve seen Canada’s answer to the von Trapps enough times that I could probably rosin up a bow, slap on some taps and join the entire MacMaster/Leahy clan on stage! Ok, maybe not, but I certainly was one of the many in the crowd toe tappin’ and hand clappin’ for a magical yuletide stew of music, dance, stories and a whole lot of charm.
It all began with the wee ones and a wagon as the kids pulled a Radio Flyer out on stage to the jovial sound of fiddles. Gifts were placed under the centre stage tree but no time to tear open the wrapping just yet. There was work to do when their festive fiddlin’ folks hit the stage! The snow storm of step dancing started right out of the gate with the older kids strutting their stuff while the youngest nestled onto a couch and wrestled playfully with a Santa hat.
After an impromptu rendition of “Happy Birthday To You” for an audience member who shouted out that they were celebrating more than the Christmas season that night, MacMaster told the audience that the show would be about traditions, some they might expect and some they probably wouldn’t. With 16 years of marriage and 7 kids, she and Donnell have carved out quite a few over the years. Of course, both being part of large musical families helped ensure the merry melodies flowed like a nice batch of “medicinal Egg Nog” every time December rolled around.
“I found that my own personal Christmas growing up in Cape Breton was a unique one and Donnell, his mother bring from there and his father being of Irish descent, had a lot of similar traditions,” MacMaster told a crowd full of smiles, a few Santa hats and at least two tacky Christmas Sweaters. “Tonight you are going to hear a lot of old melodies we would have played at Christmas parties.”
These old melodies were given a twist in the ye’ ol’ Celtic spin cycle! Tunes we’ve all heard hundreds of times were warm and fresh, like a batch of gingerbread right out of the oven and they’re just as sweet. Take a tune like “Little Drummer Boy”. Gone are the rum-pum-pum-pums, now replaced by funk. This drummer boy bops, jumps and jives and then melds perfectly back into a Celtic swing that had everyone swaying in their seats.
Welcomed this year was a new addition to the show. They call him Uncle Bill but you’d best know him as that eccentric Christmas Eve party crasher who nobody quite knows what side of the family he belongs to. Well, no matter, he’s invited in just the same to quaff a few bevies and share tales about how to pick out your tree and best decorate it.
Pulling off ship ornament from one the lighted boughs, the cheerful uncle relayed that it was a symbol of what “carried so many of our ancestors over countless nautical miles guided only by North Star.”
This was the perfect cue for young Alex to pop out of a present with a bright proper topper!
“Rain or snow or sunny skies, it matters not the weather. Consider that it’s music that brings us all together,” proclaimed Bill (also answering to William Colgate). “Should puzzlement befall you, should live become a riddler, do yourself a favour and go out and find a fiddler!”
This show had them in abundance with at least a dozen on stage by the encore. The family was also backed by a full house band that included long-time MacMaster collaborator Mac Morin (piano), Mark Kelso (drums), Elmer Ferrer (guitar) and Remi Arsenault (bass). With each member being either from P.E.I., Cape Breton, Cuba or Ireland, Leahy was able to quip that he was the only one stage not hailing from an island.
“Joy to the World”, “Sleigh Ride”, “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”, these holiday favourites mingled with new cuts from Donnell and Natalie’s album One. Heck, a cut from that release, “The Chase”, was actually edible with a chocolatier having placed the music on some tasty treats that were munched on during intermission.
The entire rabble roused headlong into the encore which included a snowball fight, plenty of heel kicks and even the Orange Justice. Hey, the kids gotta’ put down the fiddle for some Fortnite every once in a while, right?
If you add up how long MacMaster and Leahy have been touring it would total 80 years. As Natalie lovingly relayed, to her family, “it has really been a gift. I don’t know where’ it’s going to lead but I am so very grateful for you all coming out here tonight and through the years.”
Let’s hope it leads right back to the NAC stage next Christmas. I’m sure all of us gathered last night would surly shovel the path!