IRISH TENORS CHRISTMAS CONCERT
STAR PLAZA THEATRE
MERRILLVILLE, INDIANA
DECEMBER 3, 2010
I am an Irish Tenor fan from the Midwest, so I don’t get to see them
often like so many of their more fortunate fans on the east coast.
Therefore, I would like to share my personal thoughts of the concert
I was able to attend on Dec. 3rd in Merrillville, IN. This is written from
the perspective of a fan, not a professional critic.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show, even though there were problems
with the orchestra not being able to play the tempo that the tenors
needed. They had arrived rather exhausted, since they had trouble
getting out of Erie, PA., due to a terrible snowstorm, and they didn’t
have time to rest and warm up their voices before the concert.
They were very cramped on stage due to lack of space, and Ronan
was constantly bumping into the violinist behind him, which was not
his fault. He was sort of trapped between the musician and the end
of the stage. One time I thought he would fall into his lap. Ronan’s
microphone wasn’t working properly and he had to get a new one.
The venue could have done a much better job in providing space,
having their microphones checked out beforehand, and making sure
their orchestra was capable in supporting this event.
I loved how handsome they all looked on stage. In the first half, they
'had black tuxedos with a shiny lapel with red ties. In the second
half, they had white jackets with red vests, except “Anthony” didn’t
have the vest. I thought this looked very “festive”, since red and
white are good Christmas colors.
They sang very many songs, around 11 in the first half, which
consisted of a mixture of spiritual songs and Irish songs. Each
sang 2 solos and the rest were as a group. In the second half,
they each sang a solo of one of their favorite Christmas songs.
They sang 3 songs as a group and also a Medley of songs. For
an encore, they sang another medley including “Winter
Wonderland”, “White Christmas”, and “Jingle Bells”. Then they
did an encore with “God Bless America” and “Danny Boy”. The
orchestra played some songs in each half. I didn’t list all of the
songs, since these have been listed in a couple other reviews.
There were serious songs, sacred songs, humorous songs, Irish
songs, and Christmas songs. The tenors expressed so much
emotion (worship, sadness, sorrow, joy, delight, humor,
patriotism) in their songs and really captured the audience and
drew them into the performance. When they sang “God Bless
America” during the encore, the whole audience stood up and
joined in with a great show of love for God and country. I thought
that was a very moving experience.
Considering that the tenors were tired, overall I thought they
gave us a great performance. This was a long show that required
a lot of stamina, and I applaud them for a fine job.
This show meant a lot to me, because it is the first time that I
was able to see Ronan perform with Anthony Kearns and Finbar
Wright as part the Irish Tenors. They finally came to the Midwest,
close enough to where I live that I was able to see them. I found
great entertainment, fun, fantastic singing, and even got to meet
them afterward. For me, it was a dream come true. If there were
some mistakes on a lyric or note, I guess I just didn’t care. I
was too busy enjoying every minute of this wonderful show.
Maureen Brons