“One of the reasons Riverdance has been so successful is that it came from such humble beginnings. It came from a place of purity.”
For the past 26 years, Julian Erskine has been the senior executive producer with Riverdance, helping to turn a Eurovision interval act into a global touring phenomenon. One day after his retirement at the end of May, he sat down with Sam Smyth to discuss his Riverdance journey – from managing world tours before mobile phones and the internet to driving Michael Flatley and Jean Butler to the airport in the back of his Fiat Punto. In an in-depth interview, the acclaimed theatre producer also talks about the decision to remove Flatley from Riverdance, the finances and logistics of stage shows and why the Covid-19 lockdown offered him the opportunity to retire without feeling any guilt.
