Naplesrev09 - Page: 1 of 1

Almost four years ago I decided I would like to work at week ends
and be free during the week to pursue other interests. I had heard
of an Expo Center somewhere close to my home and called Basik
Development.

I met Anita, mother of the developer on the phone She told me
I would hear from her son.

In the mean time I found my dream job as assistant manager at
a beautiful high rise where I had wonderful bosses who cooked
dinner for me every night. It was to be the nicest job I ever had in Naples

Much later on I got a call to come and see Keith Basik. He showed
me a drawing of his dream project and asked me to "help him
build it." I agreed to work part-time on the condition that when it
opened, the first concert there would be by our Irish Greatest
Living Tenor, Anthony Kearns. Being the grandson of a woman
from Mayo, he agreed.

The first day I went to see the location of what I called Taj Mahal
Anthony, there was only one digging machine in a very large field.
The local press had greatly supported my efforts to generate an
interest from Vendors who wished to lease space. More than
one hundred and fifty new jobs were created with vendors
offering their merchandise for sale there every week end.
I would like to think the publicity I generated helped the super
salesman Bruno Kujat rent out all those spaces.
After many construction problems, the Naples Big Cypress Market
Place opened in December '08, more than a year behind schedule.

The Basik family were scared to put on such a major international star
such as Anthony Kearns so soon after opening. May 1 seemed to be
the best time for.all concerned

All the media in the area were very supportive, including the rather
new Hispanic network Azteca. A recording of Anthony singing Granada
was provided for the popular host, Carlos Zapata. It arrived in the
USA in European format but within hours it was transformed to
American format and sent on it's way from Port Angelus on the
other coast by Anthony's webmaster Lynnette. The Hispanic
supporters of d'Latinos TV got to hear and see Ireland's Maestro.

Pastor Mallory of the Assembly Center offered his grand piano,
but it was decided to rent one, thus the responsibility of moving
it safely to the location fell upon the owners of the piano. Pastor
talked about the forthcoming concert on his daily radio shows.

The big day was fast approaching with only Keith and Kristin Basik,
Robin Strob, the new food and beverage Manager and myself
working day and night to let the fans know their hero and the
great Patrick Healy would be in town.

Commissioner Donna Fiala, ex-vice Mayor Dr. Johnny Nocceara
and Mayor Bill Barnett got together and at the April 15 meeting
at City Hall, May 1 was declared to be the Naples Anthony Kearns
Day in recognition of his assistance in fundraising in countless
cities across the United States whose residents have second
homes in Naples.

Famed South Beach photographer Robert Alas had hoped to
come to Naples to take photographs at the concert. At the last
moment the producer of his new hour long TV program needed
to start filming and arrived in Miami.

Robert, the owner of Mr. Hispanic Universe, asked if he could bring
this producer up to Naples and film some of the Anthony Kearns
concert. With every second accounted for in the diary of Vincent
Mitchell on May 1, it would have been impossible to arrange at
such very short notice. At some time in the future, perhaps, the
residents of Miami may get to hear and see our Irish Tenor on TV there.

Vincent, Anthony and Patrick had a lunch meeting at noon with
a very important man. They were delayed for more than two hours
when a car ran under a Propane Tanker and the I 75 was closed
down. As luck would have it, the very important man they had to
meet was also delayed so all went well with their first meeting of the day.

Time flies when one is having fun. Anthony, Patrick and Vincent greatly
enjoyed meeting a sculptor who is carving a magnificent work of Art
from marble which I believe he said came from Italy from the same
quarry where the marble used by Michaelangelo was found. The
guys were amazed and fascinated

We paid a visit to one of the most beautiful Catholic Churches in
Florida. The idea of doing the Stations of the Cross was very tempting
but we discovered it was three forty-five and Vincents next meeting
was at 4pm. It had to be canceled but everyone was glad the two
national treasures and their minder Vincent, an honorary Irishman,
were safe and well and came to no harm from the crashed Propane
Tanker on the I 75.

Anthony was driving and I am very ashamed to say that I, a resident
of Florida for many years, had to follow my guests to find my way
home. The young maestro is a good driver, but we could not resist
the temptation to drive side by side on the large highway and have a
little conversation out the window, both parties knowing what the
other was thinking, this could not happen in Kiltealy or Bansha
where I come from. Of course the highway was one way.

With only a few minutes to spare, the boys reached The Naples Big
Cypress Market Place where they had to rehearse with the children
of Opera Naples. About a year ago I had contacted Steffanie Pearce
the founder of Opera Naples to let her know that a new venue was
being built and perhaps this might suffice as the home for Opera
Naples that she so desires.

The Children of Opera Naples had sung at the Naples Big Cypress
Market Place recently, and both Keith and Kristin Basik really
wanted them to perform at Anthony's concert. It was difficult to
organize as the songs had to be chosen while Anthony was still
with Patrick in England and they could bring the sheet music
with them to America.

Steffanie wanted them to sing Panis Angelicus. Anthony was very happy
with that. He asked if they could do the chorus of Isle of Hope, Isle of
Tears and it so happened that one of the children knew the song.

I saw tears flowing when the children sang it with Anthony. Some of
Opera Naples children were the same age as Annie Moore. Steffanie
Pearce could not be there as she had previously arranged a trip out
of town that weekend. We were in constant contact by email. She
wants very much to have Anthony perform in one of her forthcoming
operas here in Naples.

Her Operas have a huge following. Unfortunately they are either done
at a High School or in a local Park outdoors and named Opera Under
the Stars. She has no permanent Opera House in Naples, YET,

She holds Anthony's operatic voice and ability in very high regard:

"Our ON audience would be thrilled with his beautiful sweet
tenor in the operatic rep. Listening to his CD, I was reminded
of Bjorling singing Le Reve from Massenet's Manon. If Anthony
would sing that aria, it would become a popera hit! Any arias as sung
by Bjorling would be fantastic in his voice," she stated.

I agree with her opinion and as we say in Ireland 'Bjorling is yer
only man who MIGHT give Anthony Kearns a run for his money,"
meaning the only tenor alive or dead who might be almost as
good as Anthony Kearns,

Anthony and the Children of Opera Naples were a magical
combination, sheer perfection. They brought the house down.
Undaunted by the jungle setting of Bob Cats, Bears, Deer and
even an Alligator, far removed from any Church, Panis Angelicus
was sung to a very reverent audience.

From the very first song, Anthony and Patrick had the audience
in the palm of their hands. The absolute silence, the looks of awe
and wonder, the tears and at the end of each song, the deafening applause.

One gem followed another, each note flowed effortlessly. Unashamed
to express a shared love of their religion in this shopping center, he
dedicated Ave Maria to a long time friend of his from Ireland. It was
magnificent and left the recipient of the dedication and all present
mesmerized. "He IS an Angel", a woman whispered as the song finished.

As usual, the guy who claims to be of no entertainment value at all,
had the audience falling out of their seats with laughter. The delightful,
the elegant and the very fit Patrick Healy kept the audience
entertained while the younger tenor took a break.

Patrick is a fashion icon. With his incredible sense of style, it was
fitting that he graced the pages of Naples top Glamour Magazine
for the younger people, Pulse.The headline over the blog states
'Covering the beat of Naples'.

At half time Keith and Kristin Basik and I came charging towards
each other like two 'pucks ar buile'. "Where is the Mayor", each
party yelled at other as if to insinuate that the other had him dead
in the trunk of their car, murdered. Each party accused the other of
being the last party to be in touch with the man, so where was he?

Keith flew off ahead of us while Kristin and I took the elevator upstairs.
There was no Mayor anywhere. We raced to the office and even
meeting the gorgeous artist Robin Denman on the way did not slow
our progress. By the time we reached the office Kristin and I had
become pals again. I was online trying to find the final draft of the
Proclamation that the Mayors assistant, Michael Moose
had sent me. Kristin was on the phone trying to find her pal Lisa,
daughter of the Mayor. There was no reply, something was wrong.

I finally found a draft and Kristin stood anxiously by the copier like a
midwife waiting for somebody's first born to emerge. She grabbed
the copy, I clicked print again to make sure we had two copies and
within seconds we were upstairs again, consulting with Vincent
Mitchell on whether Keith should read the tribute. Vincent
said it
was best not to read it, and besides he added 'only we knew he
was to have been here to do this'. At that stage Anthony was back
on stage for the second half of the show. Vincent, the hero of thousands
if not millions of Irish Americans, became instantly my Super Hero,
he was so kind about our dilemma and as usual with just a few words,
solved the problem.

We had no access to radio or television and we did not find out for
some time that the Mayor's wife's best pal had died.

Another person I would have liked to have present was O. B. Osceola,
the Native American Chieftain and local representative of the Seminole
Tribe. I was very good friends with O.B at the time Anthony was in Naples
for his last concert. I had told him that he would be a guest at the next
Anthony concert here as we all shared a great love of our culture and
heritage.

The day before this concert, I went in to see a woman who worked at
the Sheriff's Dept., a daughter of the founder of the Naples Irish
American Club. O B's sister Tina used be the Press Officer there,
which gave me as much delight as when I learned that Minister
Michael D Higgins finally got his Irish Language Television Station.