Invocation:
Hear My Cry: Brian Kennedy appeared with a very long cloak on and everything else was black around him. He began singing "Hear My Cry..." and then sang the sounds that the tin whistle makes in the Slow Air in the beginning of the scene. Then entered the tin whistler and Brian Kennedy left.

Reel Around the Sun:
I don't remember any changes being made to the RAS costumes. The scene openned as it has in the past with the same choreography except that when the dancers begin rolling their necks-they were whipping them around. It was rather odd! When the troupe started doing those shuffles in place, the girls swayed their hips back and forth with the feet. It looked stupid! They also did this in "Riverdance", "Heartland", and maybe a couple of the other numbers. Anyway, enter Pat Roddy. He is an explosion on the stage! Don't think I'm biased in anyway even though I run a website all about him. He was truly superb! So, he is just stunning in his solo dancing. There was one change in choreography actually a different step. He came over to front right (POV of the audience), jumped up, uncrossed his legs, toes pointed out, and kicked out! All I could think was, That is soooo not Irish! I also disliked the increase in arm movement of his role. Every stomp or bold movement he did called for a flying hand or something of that nature. Otherwise the number was outstanding.

The Heart's Cry:
The women came out with greenish dresses and red capes over their right shoulders with a crown on top of their head. These were absolutely beautiful costumes. I think I remember the guys just wearing all black or very dark purple. Anyway, the song was the best I've ever heard it and Sara Clancy was just amazing!

The Countess Cathleen:
Some new choreography here (Eileen also does that new step that Pat did in almost the same place during her slip jig portion). I really disliked the girls' costumes for this number. They were hot pink! Sure they would be pretty in any other color but not hot pink! I think RD may be trying to hard to modernize it's show. Maybe they did need a face lift but not an entire face transplant (if that made any sense)! I think the people who have been in love with it are because they loved the traditional dancing and clothing. Eileen's costume made up for it though. Her costume was purple with some sort of veil or something attached to it that flowed. She also wore a crown similar to the singers' but this crown should be on her head. She is after all the Countess Cathleen! So anyway, all the dancers did very well and I must comment on Eileen here. Look out Jean Butler! Here comes your rival in the Who's skinniest? race! She was all stick! Besides that, she out shined the dancers with her fancy footwork. 

Caoineadh Chu Chulainn:
This song was as beautiful as ever. The introduction monologue has changed though. It does, however, give the audience a better understanding of his role in Irish history.

Thunderstorm:
Nothing really has changed from this either. The only thing that is different from the RD - Live from Radio City is that the principal leads now which isn't any difference for Pat!

Shivna:
I've never seen Shivna performed only heard the music for it on the soundtrack. The set is different so now the man who is tormented by Mad Sweeney appears to be dancing near a tree in the beginning. When the main portion of the scene is in full swing the screen is lifted to show the spirit and the man dancing together. This is a very beautiful dance that I really impressed me.

Firedance:
This is coming from someone who really enjoyed the Michael Flatley and Maria Pages combination from the original Riverdance. The dancer was fantastic. I think I liked her more that I like Maria. Don't ask me; I don't know why but I just reveled in her fluent performance. The six Irish dancers could have been avoided. Yes, it is brilliant to have Irish and Flamenco dancers on the same stage dancing to form a beautiful rhythm but not six overpowering one!

At the Edge of the World:
This was a magnificent song sung by Brian Kennedy. Due to the new set, Brian Kennedy appeared at the top of the stairs center stage. The background openned up to reveal what looked like an amazing sunrise which was really colored smoke. His voice is unbelievable to hear.

Slip Into Spring - The Harvest:
This instrumental song hasn't changed very much from the video tape. No one can replace Eileen Ivers but Athena Tergis is sure trying! The band was on the side again not on the stage. most of the band is on the left and the guitarists, the secondary drummer, and the bohdran player were on the right (POV of the audience).

Riverdance:
The singers were great as usual. Eileen's dancing was brilliant and so was her green costume. It was all green and similar to the old "Countess Cathleen" costume except green. In my opinion, the dancers should wear the color of what body they are representing (i.e. Eileen wears blue because she is the Riverwoman and Pat wears green because he is the Earth and the other female and male dancers repeat this idea). In any case, both solos were great. Pat entered wearing a green iridescent shirt and black pants. He looked stunning! When the two get together, they definitely show off how friendly they are. They have so much fun together. They are constantly smiling at each other and are bubbly. It made the audience feel as if they were included in it in someway. I loved it!

Act II, American Wake & Lift the Wings:
Although I liked their original costumes, I adored their new costumes! They really looked like Irish immigrants but I don't know if they were going for that look but it worked! The girls had long skirts on with short vests over top and the guys wore khaki or army green skirts and dark pants with matching vests. The choreography did not change during this number though. When Sara Clancy and Brian Kennedy came out to sing "Lift the Wings", they sang brilliantly! After they sang, they didn't kiss! I was soooo disappointed because that's the most important part! They just looked at each other slowly walked away looking back a few times.

Harbour of the New World:
I was not impressed with this song at all! Amanzi was the group who sang "I Will Set You Free - Let Freedom Ring" for this number. Tsidii Le Loka has an amazing voice but that is the only highlight of this scene. I understand that the creators of this show are trying to add more immigrant cultures into this but it's kind of going too far.

Trading Taps:
This is now my favorite number of Riverdance! I was very much in love with "American Wake" since it was introduced but now I'm convinced "Trading Taps" is the best! There were three African-American tap dancers as opposed to the two that are in the Radio City video. They were Walter "Sundance" Freeman, Channing Cook Holmes, and Karen Callaway Williams who is the first woman in this number! I'm sooo proud of her because she is good enough to become the first woman to do this. Actually, I think she is American dancer on the stage during this number. She is definitely the fastest when they are doing the fastest feet competition which definitely impressed me! Some of the choreography has changed because there are all different people in this number and they had to change the dancing to fit their personalities. I loved this dance!

Morning in Macedonia:
I have never seen this scene performed before. I was very impressed by the beautiful sounding whistles that the two players used. They were absolutely amazing.

The Russian Dervish:
The basic set up of this dance is the same but all the choreography is different. By the basic set up, I mean the entrances, troupe dancing, individual couple dancing, and other elements like that they were all in the same sequence. The dancers take on more complex stunts and dancing. I liked the change.

Heartbeat of the World:
This number hasn't really changed. Both dancers were wonderful. There were no differences in choreography or costumes that I could remember.

Ri Ra:
I didn't care for this dance very much. It did not have much meaning. Don't get me wrong, the dancing was great but it was basically "What is this?" Eileen Martin and three other female Irish dancers came out with their "American Wake" costumes on and three male Irish dancers entered with them I think wearing all dark clothing. They started dancing a hard shoe dance when the Russian dancers entered wearing different costumes. The women were wearing red and men white shirts and black pants. They all danced together in a celebration of their successful immigration to America while keeping their traditions alive.

Homecoming:
This is a beautiful instrumental song. In the past, the Flamenco dancer has played the castanets duelling with the fiddle player and accompanied by the bohdran player. But this time, there was no castanet player! I don't think the number was the same but it was equally awe-inspiring. They were both soooo fast!

Anthem - Endless Journey:
In my opinion, this song was boring! I really do love chorus songs but the two new songs in this show are not very entertaining. Amanzi and the Riverdance singers joined together to sing this song. Not only was this song kind of boring but the Irish women's dresses were horrible! They reminded me of white business skirt suits that one would wear to the office not to sing on stage in an Irish show. Remember these are only my opinions and everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Heartland:
The choreography was the same...I think. The costumes were the worst of those in the show! Pat Roddy's costume was pretty stupid! He entered wearing shiny black pants, a black t-shirt with three reflective stripes across the chest, and a dress jacket. Eileen's costume was a normal black dress with what looked like a silver girdle over it and black netting over the entire dress and girtle which made the girdle look less obvious. The females in the troupe wore the same costume as Eileen minus the overlayed netting. I think the male dancers wore black/gray iridescent shirts and black pants. There wasn't really anything amazing about this number. It's intensity did not change from the Radio City video. The troupe was as talented as ever. I looked behind me at the end of this number and guess who I saw??? Moya Doherty and John McColgan! They were inspecting the show and taking notes for the final touch ups before openning night.

Finale:
Ok, get this, the Riverdance Singers sang a recap of "Oscail an Doras" as they took their bows in the same costumes they were wearing in "Endless Journey". Amanzi sang a recap of one of their songs. The rest was basically the same set up. The twelve male Irish dancers recapped "Thunderstorm" then made a semi circle for the Flamenco dancer to recap "Firedance" in. The female Irish dancers made a huge semi circle for the three African-American and two male Irish dancers to recap "Trading Taps" in. The Russian troupe recapped "The Russian Dervish" in their "Ri Ra" costumes. Then, of course, Eileen recapped "Countess Cathleen" in her "Heartland" costume and Pat recapped his "Riverdance" solo also in his "Heartland" costume. They were astonishing! Then they all gathered together and recapped "Riverdance" as they always do. It was great!

After the Show:
My mom and I tried to leave as quickly as possible to see as many people as we could. So when we got to the door, there weren't many people coming out yet and let me tell you that wind in New York City is not very merciful! I was wearing a short skirt and my legs were freezing as we stood there for what seemed like forever. Many Irish troupe dancers came out but I didn't get their autographs but I was nervous about missing Pat Roddy! So as they went by, I kind of felt weird seeing them smile at me and glance at my programme.

At the time this company was known as The Lee