Schools

Irish Group Will Help Mahwah 'Cherish' The Holiday Season This Weekend

Tickets are almost sold out

A singing, dancing, instrument-playing musical group is celebrating the holidays in Mahwah this weekend. Putting an Irish twist on Christmas, Cherish the Ladies is taking over the Berrie Center at this Sunday. Performing Celtic Christmas tunes, the all-female ensemble is anxiously anticipating returning to Mahwah.

“We’ve been at Ramapo before, and we are looking forward to coming back because this is a great time of the year to perform,” Joanie Madden, the group’s leader and flutist, said. “It’s totally a family show. This is the time of year that everyone in the family can come together and all have a really great time together, and we like to celebrate that in our shows.”

The five ladies that make up the band are commemorating their 25th year together. Hailing from different parts of the globe – New York, Boston, Ireland and Scotland – the musicians were assembled in 1985 by Dr. Mick Moloney and the Ethnic Folk Arts Center in NYC. The group’s name was borrowed from a traditional Irish jig, Madden said.

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“We were coming up in an area that was really dominated by men, and we were a group of young women playing Irish music, so it was certainly interesting,” Madden said. Fast forward 25 years, and group has recorded two studio albums and toured the globe performing. The group is billed as the “most successful” Irish-American performing group in Celtic music.

The group's latest album, "Country Crossroads," was released in July.

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According to the Berrie Center website, Cherish the Ladies’ matinee show is already sold out. “I think there are about 20 tickets or so left for the evening show, so if people want to go, they should hurry,” Madden said Tuesday night.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. show Sunday are $24 through $30 for adults, and $20 for kids under 17. Get more information by calling 201-684-7844, or visiting www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter.


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