| John Carey: It
was about a year then before Troupe Two started rehearsals. TB: Did you
know that was going to happen? From the start, Michael had always
said, "You know, I'm going to do a second troupe and I'm looking for someone."
It was always hinted that if it was going to happen, that I might be doing it.
We did the tour of America, from February till September. It was right
about summer that we started holding auditions for the [Troupe Two] leads.
In September, they [Troupe One] went back to America again. I didn't go
back; I went to training with Troupe Two. Myself, Fiona Harold (she's left the
show now as well), and Jim Murrihy trained new dancers to start Troupe Two. I
had eight weeks of training while I was training these other people. I
felt a lot more confident in the lead role then, because I had time. I'd always
be in the studio on my own, like at lunchtime. When everyone else would go out
for an hour for lunch, I'd stay at the studio working by myself, trying to make
myself feel comfortable with it so I wasn't just doing Michael's stuff. I still
had to do the same choreography, but I was doing my own stuff TB: Was
it kind of intimidating to suddenly be THE guy? I mean, going from sideman, to
suddenly there YOU are - you're the ONE? (smiles) Yeah. Yeah,
it was a bit scary then. Coming up to the opening night, I was thinking, "How
are they going to react? Are people going to know that Michael's not up there
dancing?" I mean, I think there's still people now who don't even know when they
see the show. They still go away thinking they've seen Michael dance. So it was
kind of nerve-wracking. But it was what I'd always wanted, so I thought, "This
is going to be great; I'm going to really try to make it work." So I worked
really hard in the studio. I changed a lot of the arm movements. I tried to make
it more 'me' and less 'Michael'. Because, I think if I went out and did a bad
impersonation of Michael, it would be far worse than if I did a good impersonation
of myself. TB: Was there any kind of friendly rivalry between the two
of you when you were doing this? Or was he open to extra choreography?
(giggles) Well, he wasn't there, because he was on tour in America during
rehearsals. So he wasn't really there when we were in rehearsals. He came in for
a couple of days at the very, very start, before we went on tour. (laughing)
At the start, I was just basically trying to learn what he was doing. I was concentrating
on copying him. You know, I thought, "I've GOT to do it, I'll just do what he
does." But then I found during the eight weeks of rehearsals, I felt I was becoming
more comfortable with it. I'd be thinking, "I could do this instead of this."
Most of the footwork had to be the same, keeping the same sounds, but "I could
do this with my arms instead." Because you know, we're a lot different shapes.
We're different people. Different styles of dancing. So there's no point in me
trying to do just what he does. I changed a lot in the arm movements - there's
things that he would do that I wouldn't do. I changed a lot of pieces around.
Over the year and a half that I did the Lord, I changed even more. Every night
I'd do something a little slightly different. I was always trying to improve on
it and make my performance better. Opening night in Boise, my mum and my
brother flew out to see it. Bernadette (of the Celtic Cafe) was there. She was
sitting next to my brother, in fact. TB: How nice! Oh, very
nice. (smiles) That was really nerve-wracking, but it went down great.
We got great reviews. We got standing ovations. I was like, "Wow…this is IT."
We did a tour of Canada after Boise. We went from Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg,
Montreal, Toronto - all the way over from West to East. We did huge arenas. We
broke arena records, like where 10,500 people came to the show in Saskatoon. There
had never been that many people in the arena before. Everywhere we went, we were
breaking records. It was unbelievable for the first couple of months. It
was just great. I really, really loved it - not just for the first couple of months;
for the whole time that I did it, I loved it. I always tried to change it, always
tried to add something to it. I'd put a little different bit here and a little
different bit in there - what I could, as much as I could. It came to a
point then, after a year and a half, that contracts were coming up for renewal
for another three years. I was like [makes face that indicates he wasn't sure
he wanted to renew]. There was a lot of traveling. We used to do maybe 6-8
hours on a bus, then a show that night. Then get up the next morning and do the
same thing. We didn't really do that with Troupe One. We did a week in
each place. That was fantastic. It was brilliant. On the Australian tour, we'd
be traveling for a day (we had to fly everywhere because they were so far apart).
Then we'd have two days off, because it would take the set two days to get there
anyway. Then we'd do four shows and have another day off. Then we'd travel and
have another two days off. "We're getting paid to do this?!" (laughs) I
was on the beach every day! It was brilliant! But in Troupe Two, it was
a lot harder work. I think they are one of the hardest-working troupes out of
all of them, still now, even today. They do a lot of traveling. It's hard to motivate
yourself after you've been on a bus for eight hours, and try and make your legs
work. But I always really did put 150% into every show that I did. There
were some nights when I didn't feel good, and I would think, "I just could go
out there and give it half." Some people might not know the difference. But it's
a pride thing, and I wouldn't do that. I think there was only one or two cases
where I didn't feel in top form. And I just felt worse after it. I spoke to the
crew afterwards. I said, "I just don't feel very good about the show tonight."
They said, "It was still the same. You looked great." But as for myself, I didn't
enjoy it. You know, I really enjoy it when I'm giving it everything. When I come
off and I'm sweating and then throwing up (laughs and rolls eyes) … you
know, stuff like that! It's like the whole part of it. TB: I know, it's
like you go inside and pull your guts out. Exactly! I gave everything.
All the time. I didn't feel right after doing the show when I didn't give it everything
inside me. So, as I said, it came up then to contract renewal and I just had a
lot to think about. I thought, it's been three and a half years since I started.
I was thinking, "I've loved every single minute of it right now. I'd really
like to leave on a high. I really don't want to have memories of it where all
that I remember is I'm on a bus again and I remember the bad times." Well, there
really weren't any bad times. I just really wanted to leave while I had good memories
of it. I'm really the type of a person who needs a challenge all the time.
I felt that with Lord of the Dance, I wasn't going to go any further. I'd
been Michael's understudy. Then I wanted the lead in Troupe Two and I did that.
I was dancing backup in Troupe Two as well. And towards the end, I did the Bad
Guy once as well, the second to the last night before I left. I wanted to try
it once - but I didn't like it! I just thought, "There's nothing more I can really
do in this." I really didn't want to get stale. I didn't want to not give it [my
all]. I don't want it to not be exciting every night. 'Cause that was
the whole thing, you know. It was so exciting to go out there. Every night, it
was like (shudders as if he has chills), "I can't wait to go and do this!
It's going to be really, really exciting!" I didn't want it to not be like that.
And you know, maybe after two years of doing it, it was starting to get to be
a little bit that way. There were always things that used to perk it up a bit,
like an outdoor theatre, things like that made it so much more exciting . . .
TB: Or a blonde in a short red dress in the front row . . .
(cracking up) There ya go! YES!!! So I said, "No, I'm not going to sign the
contract." We were in Lake Placid, New York for my last three shows. On the third
to the last one, I did every single number in the chorus where I used to do my
old places when I first started out. I wore orange for Siamsa, like I used
to in the original. TB: No pink? (Before turning on the recorder for
the interview, we'd had a laugh about John's being forever being immortalized
in hot pink for the Feet of Flames video). No pink! NO! I decided
against the pink! (laughing) Someone else got my old costume from Feet
of Flames. I couldn't wear that . . . it's a shame . . . (laughs some more,
rolling eyes) So I did all my original places, and that was really fun.
The next night I did the Bad Guy. It was an experience, but (crinkles nose)
I'm glad I did the Good Guy. I didn't like to lose! (makes a 'EWWW!' face,
laughing again). And the last night, I did the Good Guy again. It was
quite sad then when I was leaving. I was really emotional. There were like nine
people leaving at the same time. Some people were going back to college. Some
people were just in the same situation [that I was], that they'd done it
for so long that another three years was a bit too long to sign for. It was a
very emotional time on the last night. As soon as we finished, I flew into
Chicago for the American Nationals. Four of us - two of guys who had left and
one of the guys still in it, Michael Edwards, my best mate in the show - went
to Chicago for a week. Then on to Las Vegas to see the troupe there for a week;
and then to Orlando. Troupe Four was in Orlando. I went around visiting everybody,
saying my good-byes, basically. It was really cool and a very nice way to finish
it off. TB: So this was after Feet of Flames? Didn't you quit after
that? Oh yeah, yeah. This was after Feet of Flames. Troupe
Two started in October, I think we opened in November, and it was the next June,
June 1998, that we did Feet of Flames. I was with Troupe One in Germany
instead of Troupe Two for about a month before that. Went to Dublin and did the
RDS as well. That was nice. Then we did Feet of Flames. Back to Troupe
Two again, so it was July 1999, another year later, that I left. TB:
Didn't you do some choreography for Feet of Flames? (Smiling)
Yeah. Bernie's solo. TB: Dance of Love. Yes, Dance of
Love. Bernie and I worked on that together, when I left Troupe Two and went
to Germany for about a month before Hyde Park. We used to work on the stage before
the show in Germany. She's amazing. Just a fantastic dancer, absolutely unbelievable.
She's so easy to work with. I would say, "What about this?" and she would say,
"I'd do it like this…" And I'd be, "OOH! Perfect! That's it!" TB: There
is something about her: that extra-special 'it', that indefinable quality that
separates her from the rest. Not that the other girls who dance the part aren't
wonderful. They are. But it takes a special person to hold their own when performing
with such a strong stage presence as Michael's. It's very easy to be overshadowed
by such a presence, even if that other performer is a generous and giving one.
There is something about her… Definitely! She's unbelievable. I don't
think there's anyone who can do it really quite like Bernie. We'd be working really
hard from 5 till 7 every night when I was in Germany, and she'd be sweating. Then
she'd just run in and throw on her makeup and she'd go on and dance again. I'd
sit down and watch her dance. Every night I was saying, "How does she get up there
and do that after…?" I mean, she was working so hard before the show. Then she'd
be floating around the stage as always, and I'm thinking, "How do you do it?!"
She's really unbelievable. So it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. TB:
That was the best show, that particular show [Hyde Park]. I couldn't fault a thing
about it. Costumes, lighting, sound…everything…absolutely brilliant.
Right - that was a brilliant experience. I never thought … you know, sometimes
I'd have to dance chorus in Troupe Two, at the start anyway, until we got all
the right people in. It was always kind of - when I was doing lead, I gave everything.
When I was doing chorus, it was like, ehhh . . . not that it isn't important.
TB: Sideman. It's just different… Yes, it's just different.
I just never got the buzz really, until I went to the RDS and then to Hyde Park
for Feet of Flames. That was . . . oh, to be back there. It was unbelievable
that night. And the stage was so huge! For the opening number, I was the
first person on stage, so I did my old place again. We have numbers on the stage
where you have to stand. I'd go around in a circle (making counterclockwise
circles with his hands on the table), and come back to my place, number six
normally, on a normal stage. At Hyde Park, I had to come back to number fourteen.
It was unbelievable! I was just running around the stage with so much energy!
It was brilliant. TB: That choreography was just incredible. I remember
sitting there, thinking, 'How do you remember all those steps? How many steps
are there anyway? OMG - I've got a brain cramp! And John's blonde too! (We shared
lots of blonde jokes that day). No one else appreciates this quite the way we
do!' (John breaks up into hysterical laughter). But it was a really special night.
There was such an atmosphere that night… Oh definitely! It really,
really was one of the best shows. Just brilliant. TB: I happened to
meet Ronan and his wife that night. What a nice man he is. Ronan is
great. A really, really nice guy. He sent me a fax on my opening night in Troupe
Two wishing me the best of luck. It said, "I always picked you out in orange in
Siamsa. I knew you'd make it one day!" and all this stuff. He's a really
good man. TB: So then you decided to leave… And take a holiday!
(laughs)
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1 of the interview.
Interview: Tonda
Brandon
Original Web Design: Alexander Servas
Editing: Louise
Owen | 
