Broadway and De Niro – all in a day’s work for fiddler Couper
A SHETLAND fiddler has been impressing audiences on Broadway – even Hollywood A-lister Robert De Niro.
Ross Couper, who now lives in Glasgow, is part of the show Velocity, which is taking place at the 500-seat New Victory Theater in New York this month.
The musician is part of a Celtic-themed backing band to Irish dancers choreographed by the award-winning David Geaney and James Devine, who holds the record for the fastest feet in the world – 38 taps in one second.
The show is taking place at the venue between 16-25 November, and while the theatre has been packed out, there was one face Couper was not quite expecting to be in the crowd.
Oscar-winning Robert De Niro, known for his roles in iconic films The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull, turned up to the show with his daughter – although Couper did not get a chance to meet him.
“Robert De Niro is a big supporter of theatre in general around this area, and he has a seven year old daughter I think who loves, or does, Irish dancing,” he said.
“He took her along the other day and sat up at the back and watched the show – apparently he really enjoyed it. We didn’t get to meet him, because he’d get mobbed by people, but he was at the show anyway.”
The fiddler, who is also known for playing with Peatbog Faeries and Tom Oakes, said playing on Broadway has been the “gig of a lifetime”.
“There’s been standing ovations every night after the show, and we’ve been playing to a lot of bairns as well,” he said.
“We’ve got educational shows from Monday to Thursday, and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday are public ones. Most of them have had a full house every night.”
Couper, meanwhile, will return to Shetland next month with Peatbog Faeries for Mareel’s Hogmanay bash on 31 December.
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