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After the last Irish Tenors concert, I thanked the men for the early
Christmas present. I was a little premature, because Anthony Kearns had
another gift up his sleeve. On Saturday, December 4, Anthony was the
star, at the grand re-opening of the newly redone St. George Theatre, in
Staten Island. The theatre is, to be honest, a little garish, with its
Spanish-type murals and painted ceilings, and there is red velvet
everywhere. But the sponsors went out of their way to make everyone feel
pampered, and quite comfortable, beginning with a red carpet on which to
enter the theatre, and food and drink wherever you turned. The invitation
said it was black tie, and that was certainly true. I must say that the
"Anthony Kearns Fans", who were at 2 tables, on either side of, and closest
to the stage, were resplendent in their finery!! We did look good!
That being said, let me get my one complaint out of the way. This
audience (with the exception of the aforementioned Kearns Fans), was one of
the rudest I've ever encountered, in all my years of concertgoing. I had
the feeling they were miffed that they couldn't talk, because some guy was
singing! The higher Anthony sang, the louder they talked. Even the many
"sshhs" from all of us, didn't help much. It was disconcerting to
Anthony, but being the professional he is, he persevered, and the reward
for us, was one of the best concerts Anthony has done.
Vocally, he was in superb voice, and those in the audience who love his
voice (and there were many, besides us) were amply rewarded. He sang twice
during the evening, the first time not being until well after 9:00 pm. The
songs in this set were mostly Irish, very well-known, and very beautifully
sung. In this group of songs, he included an absolutely breathtaking
"Younger Than Springtime." It was so lovely I could almost see Rodgers and
Hammerstein beaming down at him. To end this group, we heard a song that
Anthony hasn't sung in awhile......"Catari" It was glorious! And I think
those "concertgoers" in the audience actually stopped talking, to listen to
"that voice!" He also sang an adorable "Girls Were Made to Love and
Kiss", saying it was his philosphy in life.
The second set of songs came at about 10:30 pm , and included the
charming "A Vucchella", a fabulous "Mattinata", with spectacular high notes,
and one of my very favorite arias in the whole world -"Dein ist mein ganzes
Herz." It was exquisite, and there were bravos heard everywhere. There
was one more surprise from Mr. Kearns. As his final song, he offered "Con
Te Partiro", a song he had sung briefly a couple of years ago. I think he
was not happy with the song at that time, so he took it out of his
programs. This time it was wonderfully done, and one of the nicest ways to
say "good night" to everyone, that I can think of. As "one for the road",
Anthony sang "O Sole Mio", and it was marvelous-warm, and lilting.
As his accompanist, Anthony had the lovely Mairead Hurley, who has
worked with him often, in Ireland. She was quite good, although she was
not Patrick Healy. To be fair to her, she only flew over from Ireland on
Friday, and she and Anthony didn't have lots of time to rehearse. But she
played beautifully, and it was very nice to finally hear her. She looked
great in her own tuxedo, with her boutonniere! Anthony did say "to those
of you who may be worried about Patrick Healy....he's in the Carribean."
That was a sweet way for him to tell us not to worry about Paddy.
After what was a long evening, especially for our performer, Anthony
came to chat with us, and wish everyone Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
It was then that I realized that this was it. The last concert until March
of 2005. After such a wonderful evening it didn't seem quite enough to
just wish Anthony "safe home, and happy holidays." So I'll just add to
that...."Thank you, Anthony, for sharing God's gift to you.......with us!"

Berta Calechman