This Desert C.A.M. Studios production of entertainer Melinda Read's long-running, Time-Warner/Spectrum weekly television series, "Talk of the Desert", features Part Two of her special, about the hit Public Television Irish dance special, "Rhythm of the Dance." In addition to a successful airing on PBS from 2012 through 2019, the supporting live stage tour, which has played to 12 million people in 48 countries, gears up again after a year on hiatus due to the pandemic. This interview features footage from The National Dance Company's live show in Holland at Theater de Tamboer in Amsterdam. The cast was later also filmed performing in over 40 locations throughout Ireland, in such historic sites as Cromwell's Ruins, Wicklow Mountains, Dublin's St. Stephen's Green, Inishbofin, Kylemore Abbey, Dunguaire Castle, Killarney National Park, Lost City of Clonmacnoise, Donnegal Bay, Rock of Cashel, Wexford Sea Bluffs, and Counties Galway, Mayo, Meath, and Tipperary. The production took 2 years, 30 Irish dancers, a dozen traditional musicians, and the three Young Irish Tenors. Chip Miller, along with his production company, Desert C.A.M. Studios, created and scripted the TV special with collaborator, Terrel Cass, a popular on-air host/producer for PBS. Miller also directed the concert special on location and on stage, as well as co-produced and co-edited the final TV concert. Travis Miller Line Produced and supervised Post-Production for "Rhythm of the Dance" and Hagai Amir executive produced with Norm Anderson of Timeless Media Group. Kieran Cavanagh co-produced. "Talk of the Desert" star Melinda Read, also hosted the nationally televised "Rhythm of the Dance." Pledge Break for the official PBS broadcast. Her segments were taped at Desert C.A.M. Studios, using green screen process to magically place her on location at the theater in Holland, creating the sense of a live broadcast. Additional "live" inserts were dropped in during the pledge breaks, of Terrel Cass cast interviews which were actually pre-taped on location in Ireland. Both lead dancers, the ravishing Nicola Kennedy and the handsome Michael Byrne share their experiences as dancers in the long-running show. The "Rhythm of the Dance" special is broadcast annually every St. Patrick's Day on PBS. On the air almost 15 years, "Talk of the Desert" is a Coachella Valley desert favorite. Melinda has conducted live celebrity interviews with classic and contemporary stars like, the late Carol Channing and Barbara Sinatra, Dick Van Dyke, Jack Jones, Tom Dressen, Frankie Valli, Pia Zadora, the late Keely Smith, Michael Feinstein, Tony Orlando, William Devane, Ruta Lee, the late Kaye Ballard, Trini Lopez, Jerry Vale, Peter Marshall, and Joe Mantegna, as well as Steve Garvey, Norm Crosby, the late Buddy Greco, Alan Thicke, and Hal Linden, in addition to Lorna Luft, Elke Sommer, and Melba Moore, to name a few. In this third show produced and taped at Desert C.A.M. Studios, "Talk of the Desert" dedicates the entire program to Chip Miller's "Rhythm of the Dance" PBS special, by airing Part Two of a two-part interview series on this Irish dance phenomena. Director/Screenwriter/Producer, Chip Miller, makes his second appearance on "Talk of the Desert", and is interviewed in the studio with Melinda. The show also features her after show interviews backstage at the Agua Caliente Resort Theater, with cast members who appeared in the PBS special, dancers Conor Smyth, Fiona Stone, Eleanor Rooney, and musicians Aine O'Malley and Christopher Anglim. PBS producer Cass also interviews Kieran Cavanagh on location in Ireland. …...more
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