Candlelight Celtic Christmas Cast

Scott Doherty is a world-class Irish dancer, choreographer, and mindset coach who won the prestigious Men's World Irish Dance Championship in 2009. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, he trained under the legendary Rita O'Shea and Lisa Chaplin at the O'Shea-Chaplin Academy of Irish Dance. His competitive career is highly decorated, featuring a North American Championship title, a Great Britain Championship title, and eight consecutive New England Championships. Doherty transitioned into a prolific professional stage career, making his debut in 2005 on the North American tour of Riverdance. Over the years, his stage credits expanded significantly. Rockin' Road to Dublin: Co-created, choreographed, and starred in by Doherty in 2014, this production fuses classic Irish step dance with a contemporary rock show format. Christmas in Killarney: A festive stage production combining the storytelling of a Broadway musical with rapid-fire Irish dancing. Candlelight Celtic: An intimate musical and dance production developed alongside touring musician Chris Smith. Doherty is also an accomplished producer and choreographer who co-founded his own production company to create modern, hybrid Irish dance experiences. Today, Doherty channels his experiences into global mentoring as a dedicated performance and mindset coach for athletes. Through his Scott Doherty Mindset Coaching platforms, he helps competitive dancers navigate performance anxiety, build physical stamina, and break down what judges look for on stage. To further assist dancers, he authored and published Stop "Just" Dancing: A Guided Irish Dance Journal, a physical goal-tracking notebook engineered to build structural progress and mental clarity.

Musician and percussionist Chris Smith is best known in the holiday circuit as the co-creator and executive producer of Christmas in Killarney, An Irish Christmas Celebration. Smith’s arrangements distinctly blend traditional Christmas classics with festive, high-energy Irish melodies. For example, the production reimagines seasonal anthems like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by interweaving traditional Irish reels and jigs into the backing instrumentation. : Outside of his theatrical productions, Smith tours internationally as the lead percussionist for the prominent Celtic rock outfit, The American Rogues.