25th Anniversary
2005

To help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Milwaukee Irish Fest, The Irish American Post will be running stories on some of the many volunteers who help make the world's largest Irish cultural event such a success. These features will appear in The Post over the next few months.

Jim O’Keeffe, Doin’ It All

By Rebecca Russell
 

Jim O’Keeffe has done just about everything possible from the ordinary to the extraordinary as a part of the community that makes Irish Fest a reality. He began as a solo singer and guitar player, joined a group, and performed as a dancer. At the end of the list, he added, "Oh, and I modeled Cherish the Ladies wear on stage during one of their shows." 

Today, he has left performing behind and works as a stage manager. Given his heritage and love of music, it is easy to understand his commitment to and love of the festival. Working at Irish Fest gives him the opportunity, "to be able to do what ties my whole life together and circles my family heritage right back at me."

O’Keeffe is a first-generation Irish-American guy, who observed, "I always like to say that I was raised as in Irish child in America." His mom, Elizabeth Mary Lenihan, was originally from Bantry in Co. Cork, and his dad, Michael Lawrence O’Keeffe is from Dublin. They met in London where his dad drove a double-decker bus and his mom was a conductor. Jim, along with his brother, Eamonn, and sister, Margaret, immigrated with their parents to America aboard the Queen Mary in 1963, where they were welcomed by cousins in New York. 

They stayed only briefly in the Big Apple before moving to Milwaukee. "Mom always wanted to settle in Boston, (a topic) which always seemed to come up around the Thanksgiving dinner table. (But) Milwaukee was chosen because my dad had a childhood friend here who was also Mom and Dad’s best friends through their time in London."

These friends, George and Nancy Murphy, became family to the O’Keeffes. In fact, George is Jim’s godfather. George’s son, Michael, is currently a Milwaukee alderman, something "my mom constantly predicted. ‘Politics for Michael,’ she’d say," while keeping him in line at family functions.

Family affairs were not the only place O’Keeffe celebrated his heritage. Being a part of the festivals and local celebrations of Irish heritage is in his blood. "Mom and Dad, with countless others, were founding members of the Shamrock Club," O’Keeffe explained. "They were very much involved in the early St. Patrick’s Day parades and festivities.

Music is also something O’Keeffe gets from his parents. "Neither Mom nor Dad played instruments, although singling around the house with Irish records was always going on. Somehow I was always the one who got the most involved with music over the years."

He took guitar lessons at Pius XI High School, but is mostly self-taught. "I didn’t have the patience for classes, so I just forged ahead and formed my own style," he said. "I actually had more formal training in voice, and won state-wide awards in vocal contents as a teen. I incorporated all of that into the whole Irish scene in my late teens and early 20s."

It seemed only natural, then, that O’Keeffe get involved with Irish fest. O’Keeffe said, "Mom was the first one to get me involved with Irish Fest. I don’t know how she actually heard about it. The first year she arranged for Ed Ward to come to our house and give me a try-out. I did, and the rest, they say, is history." 

In the beginning, O’Keeffe performed as a solo singer and danced as a member of the Trinity Irish Dancers, as did his brother and sister. A couple of years later, he formed the Minstrel Druids with his brother, Eamonn, and good friend Jody Dowling. "We got together as a natural extension of my solo thing," O’Keeffe explained, "and we were together until I moved to London in 1987."

It was a natural thing for O’Keeffe to take to the stage as a performer at Irish Fest, but stage managing came about by accident. "I really wasn’t so much selected," O’Keeffe explained, "as I was caught having dinner back stage and was pressed into service shifting a keyboard from one stage to another, which lead to a whole series of deeds. I got caught that way." 

Since getting "caught," he’s been at it for 20 years, beginning at the old Channel 6 Kentucky Fried Chicken folk stage, but soon enough landing at the old Pabst stage, which is now the Aer Lingus stage, where you’ll find him today. Ask what he dislikes about the job, and he struggles to answer. 

Ask about the good side, the fun, and O’Keeffe has much to relate. "What is not fun about it? You get to meet lots of great people and performers, and find out what they are like off stage. It makes me quite proud to hear all of the positive comments about the festival from the bands and visiting VIPs. A lot of times, especially with first time performers, they are genuinely blown away by the whole scope and organization of the festival."

It is not a job without its challenges, however, as O’Keeffe explained. "The challenging bit is keeping everything on time, getting it back on time, and dealing with the problems that do arise: bad equipment, missing instruments that are at some other stage on the grounds, missing band members who got stuck at immigration at O’Hare, beer runs out…" 

But, so far, the problems haven’t been anything that he can’t handle. "If there are difficulties, it’s usually something to do with equipment that can easily be handled. Performers know they can rely on us to take care of their needs, and we take that trust very seriously." O’Keeffe stated. 

Over the years, O’Keeffe has seen a few changes as technology changes and the crowds get bigger. The gear has gotten more complicated, leading to time-consuming set ups. And as the crowds have increased, crowd control has also become a bigger issue. "Privacy for performers is very important. People don’t seem to realize that," he said, and went on to explain, "It’s not that the performers are being stuck-up or anything, it’s just that they like a little down time before and after their shows." 

Overall, he has not encountered performers who are a challenge to work with or who make unusual demands. He attributes that to the way the stage managers work. "We usually give them more than they expect or are used to anyway, and that sets the standard to begin with. The performers know we’re there for them, and that we appreciate and respect their talents. Mutual respect is the key to a well-run stage."

Mutual respect also comes from knowing the performers and anticipating their needs. Before the festival starts, the research begins. O’Keeffe explained, "Believe it or not, we’re very knowledgeable about the guests we host. We spend a lot of time getting to know them before we ever meet them. And because of that, making them feel comfortable and welcome comes easy. It blows some of them away when we meet their needs before they have a chance to ask."

Some of O’Keeffe’s favorite performers, which seems to number just about everyone he works with, include Cherish the Ladies, Eileen Ivers, Makem Brothers with Mickey and Liam Spain, Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Craobh Rua, Greenfields of America, La Bottine, North Cregg, Liam Clancy, Sean McGuire, Danu, Altan, Cara Dillon, Flook, Barra McNeils, Sliabh Notes, John Whelan, Dublin City Ramblers, Gaelic Storm, The Elders, The Irish Fest Choir, The Clumsy Lovers, Baal Tinne, The Drovers, Leahy's Luck, Ragu, Barley Bree, De Dannan, Mary Black, Francis Black, The Black Brothers, Liz Carroll, Seamus Egan, Winnie Horan, Solas, Paddy Reilly, Off Kilter and then there are all the dance schools. The list could go on and on.

It’s rare that O’Keeffe gets to take in an act performing on a stage other than the Aer Lingus stage. That’s a small sacrifice, though, for the rewards of the job. "Despite all the detail, problems, and triumphs, it is an incredible honor to do what we do and to be in any way, shape, or form involved in the greatest Irish festival in the world."