Riverdance to tap new markets with fourth troupe

With an annual turnover of £100 million, Riverdance the roadshow is opening up new markets, planning a fourth permanently touring troupe and expanding its management team to keep on top of an increasingly complex business.

Mr Pat Faulkner, who, as group chief executive of Tyrone Productions, heads the organisation which is running shows continuously in Europe and the US, is confident about opening up in Japan next year, appearing in Tokyo and Osaka in March.

"We are testing the market but we feel that potentially it is enormous for us. We have never seen such press interest," he says.

All of this comes from seven minutes of magic during the 1994 Eurovision intermission when the original Riverdance brought Irish dancing to the international stage as a cultural phenomenon.

It was re-staged at the Point Theatre to run for a month on a £1.4 million budget and with a television programme and video spin off.

"We were very, very lucky. Riverdance was of its time. There was enormous interest in it right around the world," he says.

Mr Faulkner grew up with the family business, Faulkner Packaging, now run by his brother, Peter, and became an accountant, eventually going into partnership and setting up Faulkner Orr with David Orr in 1983. He gave up the practice to work full time for Tyrone Productions, and its subsidiary, Abhann, which manages Riverdance, at the beginning of 1997 as the show expanded.

Now, he says he enjoys the mix of people he deals with and "is not dealing in financials". More than six million units of the group's three videos have been sold, generating about £90 million in revenue. "You are looking at equivalent figures to the top Disney titles," he says.

An estimated 6 1/2 million people have seen one of the 2,000-plus shows that have been staged, with three million expected to view it next year. About 400 people are permanently on the road, comprised of crew and performers, with the typical dancer getting paid between £500 and £600 a week plus an allowance of around £250, says Mr Faulkner.

"We are dealing in Australian dollars, New Zealand dollars, Canadian dollars, deutschmarks, kroner. . . It is just huge. Every two weeks we are moving those three shows from venue to venue and country to country," he says.

The business is high risk but he says the show's founders, Ms Moya Doherty and Mr John McColgan, along with the remainder of the management were initially learning as they went along.

"It was demanding, challenging and very, very exciting and, I suppose, it was a very, very steep learning curve." he says.

Although the original duo and show stars Michael Flatley and Jean Butler have moved on, Riverdance has stayed one step ahead of seeming jaded or overly focused on personalities.

"The trademark of Riverdance is the quality of music and the production but the secret of it is the energy. The energy that comes to it is quite magical," Mr Faulkner says.

It does, however, have a court case with Mr Flatley outstanding over disputed royalties. The latest organisation for the group is designed to bring it beyond the millennium and sustain "longevity" although as yet there is no sign of flagging interest in the dance-music mix. Corporate shows have been recently put on for the Red Cross Ball in Monaco and the launch of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

"We anticipate that we will probably have two shows primarily in North America, one primarily in Europe and a fourth show appearing at the end of next year doing the rest of the world."