After all the fanfare of the American premiere of Dancing At Lughnasa, it was inevitable that no other premiere could quite touch it. Still, the London opening, which took place in the Curzon Mayfair theatre on Wednesday went with a bang. Meryl Streep could not make it due to filming commitments but Kathy Burke, Brid Brennan and Cathy McCormack were there to represent the Mundy sisters and producer Noel Pearson and director Pat O'Connor also came along for the night.
Principal among the guests recognisable in the mill was Terry Wogan, who is really flaunting his Irish roots these days what with the Lughnasa premiere appearance coming just one week after the Fianna Fail dinner date in the Grosvenor Park Hotel. The dancers from the Bonnar Canon school who have been tapping and high-jumping their way from Glenties to New York also leapt across to London and were accompanied by music from the McElhinney family that had everybody up jigging in the Intercontinental Hotel until the wee small hours. All the proceeds from the premiere, which was organised by the Ireland Fund of Great Britain, went to the Barretstown Gang Camp.
Incidentally, there is another fundraiser for the Gang coming up next Friday when Nadia Quick, who has taught most of the small girls of the southside of Dublin to dance, will present her 30th anniversary show in St Andrew's College in Booterstown. Pianist extraordinaire, "the Prof" Peter O'Brien also promises to put in an appearance and further information can be got from Oonagh at 01-6675464.