IRISH TENORS CHRISTMAS CONCERT
STAR PLAZA THEATRE
MERRILLVILLE, INDIANA
DECEMBER 3, 2010
A Very Interesting Concert
When the Irish Tenors do a Christmas concert you usually know what
to expect, a night of beautiful music sung by the most talented tenors
in "tenordom". Last night's concert was in Merrillville, Indiana. (I wanted
to make sure people knew where the concert was since Ronan had a
problem pronouncing the location. He kept calling it Chicago.) First off,
Chicago is in Illinois, not Indiana, where we were. And secondly, I am
not sure the citizenry appreciated the change of location.
The concert started out with the song Be Thou My Vision and right away
some had the feeling there was going to be a problem. I am sorry I
didn't catch the conductor's name. At the end, they introduced him and
I got the David part and that his last name began with a "B". As they
were singing, Finbar kept making a movement with his arm which
seemed to say, " please speed up the orchestra". All during the first
half, one or all three of the fellas was making this gesture. The orchestra
was another "interesting" entity. The lady next to me whispered, "I just
figured out where they got the brass section - they went to a local high
school and recruited them". It seemed all night that "David" and parts
of the assembled musicians were at odds with each other and I am
not sure who won.
I have to mention wardrobe, WelI, don't have to but I am going to. The
Tenors came out in tuxes - beautifully tailored and looking very classy
with their red ties. I truly loved the look. The second half they had changed
into white dinner jackets with bow ties. Finbar was wearing his "Cork Red"
vest and Ronan was in a darker red one. I would like it if they lost the
white jackets - I know that they have paid good money for them and
they want to get their use out of them, but they look so classy in the
tuxes. They say that clothes make the man. Well, I think Ronan's white
jacket tried to kill him last night. At the second half of the program, he
had a problem with the jacket, and then with his ear phones, and with
pretty much anything else you want to mention. Anthony tried to help
him, but finally just gave up. The audience was laughing so hard that
the first part of the song they were singing was lost somewhere
between Merrillville and Chicago.
Anthony was really watching out for Ronan on stage. The Tenors
were very close to the orchestra and all night Anthony was either
protecting the First Violinist or Ronan, (I am not sure which) from
getting in a collision.
My favorite songs of the evening were Finbar's Shelter Me and Anthony's
I Heard The Bells - or anything either one of them sang. Again the
lady next to me said she was a voice instructor and that Anthony hit
each note perfectly all night long.
Sidebar: When the concert was over, a woman came up to me and said -
who was the man on the left - I think I fell in love with him tonight.
I told her that there was a very long line and she would have to get
on the end of it. I was told that there was just something about Finbar -
well I have know it for years. I should also add, that waiting in line for
the restroom I heard a younger woman say that Anthony's voice made
her drool. The fellas should know, as if he don't already, that women
find them sexy and most prefer to leave their husbands home - I think
the ratio of women to men was 20 to 1 last night.
Back to the concert - I would estimate that there were between 1,000
and 1,500 people there last night and from the talk most had not been to
an Irish Tenor concert previously. I talked to some that had traveled a
long distance to get there. They were from Wisconsin, Montana and
other states that were further than driving to Indiana. So they did and
were all glad that they had.
Tonight, the fellas are in Rochester, New York - on the 2nd, they were in
Erie, Pennsylvania. I am not sure who their travel agent is, but they
sure have them racking up the frequent flyer miles this tour. I hope
others that go to the Christmas Concerts this year let us know if they
think that the 2010 Reunion Tour was "very interesting" too.
Susan Swinehart
PS:
I have to be honest here - people were asking where Karl Scully was
and why he wasn't with the Irish Tenors. I had no answer for them, but
Karl should know he was missed.
PPS: I am not musically trained and known to be a biased about Finbar,
but I have tried to give a general impression of the concert.
