Susan in Daniel O'Donnell's Rock 'n' Roll Show (2005)

Long before Susan was in Celtic Woman, she was a dancer in Daniel O'Donnell's DVD "Rock 'n' Roll Show" in 2005 (part of his Blue Jeans Tour).

Here's my recap of the DVD.

Song Selection

The show focuses on rock and roll songs from mostly the 50s and 60s, although there are some songs from the 70s too. Your enjoyment of the music may depend on what kind of music you grew up with and how much you enjoy people covering those songs. Even though these songs were before my time, I did grow up listening to a lot of 'oldies' radio and even watched a bunch of Lawrence Welk with my grandparents when I was younger. So I did have some exposure to classic rock and have heard most of the songs before. I'd say the covers are good, though not necessarily spectacular.


Susan

We saw some of Susan's graceful dancing skills in Voices of Angels and some more energetic dancing in Homecoming (and Emerald), you really haven't seen her dance until you've seen her in this DVD. There is some really fast-paced, high energy dancing and she does it very well.

She gets to show off her expressiveness in some of the close-ups. Like Reese Witherspoon, Susan is great at using her face as a storytelling device. She does have a lot of moments in this show when she looks like she could be a stunt double for Reese Witherspoon, just like in Legally Blonde the Musical.

There are a lot of costume changes, so we get to see Susan in several nice outfits.

Even though Susan isn't a principal performer or singer in the show, she does appear in quite a few of the songs. Even before the lights come up and the music starts playing, she walks out on stage by herself to open the show. She might do some backup singing in some of the songs while she's dancing, but I'm not sure.

Here are most of the tracks in which she appears on the DVD:

Come On Over to My Place
Oh Boy
When You Walk In The Room
Elvis Medley
Lipstick on Your Collar
Is This the Way to Amarillo
The Moon of Love Medley
Ole Man Trouble
At The Hop
Cliff Richard Medley
Ob-la-di Ob-la-da
Live Next Door to Alice
Let's Twist Again
Let's Dance Encore
Rock Around the Clock


My Favourites

My favourite number featuring Susan was The Moon of Love Medley. She has a lot of good closeups and even says a few lines.

Mary Duff is quite prevalent in the show and she does a great job. My favourite song is the production is The Carnival Is Over, which Daniel and Mary perform as a duet. The harmony is extremely well done! If I had been in the audience, I would have given two standing ovations during the show: one to Susan when she got her shout-out and one after The Carnival Is Over.

After Ob-la-di Ob-la-da, Susan and the other dancers get their shout-outs.

Susan does appear in the credits at the end.


Overall Impression

Overall, I though it was pretty good show. It had a good selection of songs. Even if 50s/60s classic rock isn't your thing, you'll still probably enjoy at least parts of it. It's mostly up-tempo songs, although it does have a good mix of slower songs too.

If there's one criticism I have is that it's a pretty long show. The running time is 2 hours and 40 minutes and that's just the show. There are no extras on the DVD. It's hard for me to get through the whole thing in one sitting.

If you're a massive Susan McFadden fan (like me), you should get this DVD. She's featured in quite a few of the songs, her dancing is impressive, and almost every time I see her, it makes me smile. If you or someone you know is also a fan of 50s/60s music, then you should definitely get this DVD.

Thanks for reading.

Susan forever!

If you're in to free stuff, have good Internet and no download cap to worry about, here's pretty much the whole DVD:
https://youtu.be/ciTw4LO8xsU

Awesome, I'll have to get this DVD! I would love to see all of Susan's dancing. Thanks for the info Tom, I probably would have never known about this otherwise.