After 30 years, 69 marriages, and 132 babies, a next-gen ‘Riverdance’ comes to Philly

Riverdance started out as a seven-minute performance at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest and became a full-length show the next year. It’s been touring ever since. This weekend, it’s back in Philadelphia at the Miller Theater, celebrating 30 years of bringing Irish dance to the mainstream.

Padraic Moyles, the executive producer and associate director of the show, has been with Riverdance nearly the entire time. Born in Dublin and raised in New York, he got his start in show business at age 12 when Harold Prince cast him in a Broadway show, mostly because he had an Irish accent. Prince later became a mentor to Moyles, who joined Riverdance as a dancer in 1997.

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After about 5,500 shows (interrupted by a short break to perform in The Pirate Queen, a Broadway show run by the same producers), Moyles switched over to Riverdance’s creative and leadership side. He also met his wife in the show.

“Me and my wife are one of the 69 marriages that have happened in Riverdance,” he said. “We have two of the 132 Riverdance babies.”

Before the birth of their first child, Moyles had performed the lead role for 18 years and wore many hats within the company: “Dance captain, assistant director, associate director, brand manager, executive producer.”

His wife, Niamh O’Connor, is a costume designer for Riverdance, and also designed costumes for Dancing with the Stars in Ireland.

Haley Richardson, on the other hand, wasn’t born when Riverdance began. None of the current cast of dancers or musicians were, which is why this latest tour is billed as “Riverdance: The New Generation.”

Richardson, 22, a fiddle player from Pittsgrove, in Salem County, N.J., joined Riverdance five years ago, when she was still a teenager accompanied by her mother on tours.

Her family has since moved to North Carolina, and Richardson stays away from home for months at a time when on tour. But she created a second family in the show, especially since her partner, Will Bryant, and his brother, Kieran, are both dancers in Riverdance.

“Having sort of a family on the road, it makes you miss home just a little less,” she said.

Although they perform eight shows a week and she plays for two hours each time, Richardson said the show continues to be exciting. Last year she enjoyed touring Japan and Australia, where the Bryant brothers are from.

Philadelphia, of course, will be special.

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Richardson is not Irish. She started playing the violin with Suzuki lessons at age 3 and immediately got hooked on Irish music after she first heard it at age 5. She grew up studying and playing in and around Philadelphia.

“I spent loads of time in the incredible Irish music scene in Philadelphia,” Richardson said. “There’s so many amazing players. They really nurtured me, you know, who grew up in the Irish music tradition. So I was so lucky to have that.”

Coming back to a familiar place, she said, is “really, really great.”

“And it’s obviously fantastic when you’re playing for people in the audience that you know. You play a different kind of show.”

While the show has not changed vastly over the years, it must grow, Moyles said.

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“I know the audience will want us to play it safe at times because they are so accustomed to seeing it,” he said, “[But] theater and art is a risk, and we have to be willing to try things and let the audience come to their own conclusion as to what works and what doesn’t work.”

The 30th anniversary show has been freshened up, has some new choreography, new projections, and the flamenco player is now part of musicians with her castanets, along with performing her dance.

The goal is to keep things interesting for audiences as well as the cast.

“Our motto is every night is opening night, every night is a new opportunity to improve,” said Moyles, who is based in Dublin.

Philly also has a place in his heart as he took some classes at Wharton.

“The crowds in Philadelphia have always been known to be vocal. One of the things that we appreciate most about being in Philadelphia is the feedback that we get from the audience. That is the message that I’d be passing on to the cast: Get ready for that roar. Appreciate that roar and let it sink in and be present in that moment.”

“Riverdance,” April 18-20, Miller Theater, 250 S. Broad St. $49-$179, 215-893-1999 or ensembleartsphilly.org