My husband and I attended the Christmas concert at Jones Hall in
Houston, TX last night. It was our first time to this venue downtown
and we found it a pleasant place to visit.
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This was not my first Christmas concert by the Tenors, and it was a
nice visit down memory lane. The line up was exactly the same as
what Lori Herter posted previously in Palm Desert so I won't
repeat it here.
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Just before Ronan started with his first solo of My Grandfather's
Immigrant Eyes, he welcomed former President George Bush (41)
and wife Barbara Bush to the concert hall. I know from seeing past
photos that they enjoy his performances and I'm sure they weren't
disappointed. During the intermission, we saw the former President
being wheeled to the "Green room" in a wheelchair along with Barbara.
There were others that followed them into that room and of course
the Secret Service were all around him. He received some applause
as he exited the concert at the conclusion.
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Ronan seemed a bit less playfull in the first half of the concert
than in the second. After intermission, he had obviously asked that
his spot light be turned way down. We were 9 rows back and it
appeared that he was singing in the dark compared to the spot
lights on Anthony and Finbar. In the first half, he kept wiping his bald
head and looking towards Anthony like he was just so hot and
uncomfortable! He looked more comfortable in the 2nd half with
the spot turned down but I felt bad for those further back that
probably had a really hard time seeing him.
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They were all dressed in their dark suits with red tie looking as
dapper as ever. No buttonholes though which was always a
standard in concerts of the past.
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The audience was subdued to say the least and finally stood up
to give an ovation prior to them leaving the stage prior to their
encore. Ronan had to chide them by saying when he walked
onstage prior to his first solo that he knew the TX audiences
could manage more applause than what they just gave. So of
course people started clapping after that point as each Tenor
came onstage.
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Finbar looked fabulous and trim and got the most applause
of all after his solo of "How Great Thou Art". Anthony looked
wonderful as well and Ronan pointed out his new earring courtesy
of the Lady in his life on a recent cruise. There was a high stool
next to Ronan which he never used as he was too busy doing his
hip swinging and dance moves during most of the 2nd half.
Finbars dance moves are still the same while Anthony kept
up with Ronan! I think all 3 of them were really trying to get more
of a reaction out of the audience with each song they sung.
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It was a wonderful trip down memory lane for me and it made me
really yearn for the years gone by trotting off to IT concert after
concert and meeting up with all of the ladies in the IT fan group
before and after each concert. I guess those days are gone
but it's still nice to remember all the fun we had!
>
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday and enjoy the
rest of the tour!
>
Sheila Gallogly
JONES CENTER
for
THE PERFORMING ARTS
HOUSTON, TX
December 7, 2011
by Sheila Gallogly
