‘Tenor Territory’
Ten Tenors brings its 30th Anniversary World Tour to Levoy Theatre on Saturday, March 21.
If you love tenors, Levoy Theatre has a show for you. Ten tenors. Count ’em. Not a soprano in the bunch. Doesn’t put the three tenors to shame, but 10 gives you a lot more to play with than three.
“Since they all have a C above the stave, it’s tenor territory,” says D.J. Wendt, producer of the lineup since its inception in Australia 30 years ago.
“Some are classically-trained tenors; some are music theater tenors and a couple are contemporary rock tenors. A few of the guys also can go quite low, more in the Barry (Baritone) Tenor range. We need that to fill out the part,” Wendt says. “Typically, the guys that would sing on the high parts in a classical number, would likely sing on the lower parts in a contemporary or rock number. We also utilize the falsetto part of the voices when needed.”
The head honchos could have come up with a different name for the group. But in 1995, the Three Tenors (Carreras, Domingo, and Pavarotti) were all the rage and the 10s had a request to perform at a corporate gala event for a local TV station in Brisbane—the headquarters for the group. So why not call them the “10 Tenors” especially since the TV outlet was on channel 10. Still, over the years D.J. and the boys dickered with different names.
“The word Tenor in the name definitely does congure up certain assumptions of what people that don’t know the group, might expect,” Wendt says. “No disrespect to all the incredible classical tenors but most people expect older, larger built gentlemen in tuxes or tails singing ‘Nessun Dorma.’ So that is why we have from time to time toyed with dropping the word tenor from the name, but I always came back to the fact that there is a lot of good will in that name and it is trademarked around the world now, so that also adds value. The thing is though, you will get ‘Nessun Dorma,’ but you will also get songs that will make you laugh, some songs that will really tug at your heart strings and make you reflect on life and you will get many songs that will have you moving from your seat to the aisles to dance like you are at a disco.”
The group no longer just comes from Brisbane, but Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. One singer hails from Auckland, New Zealand.
There is one non-tenor, and the only participant with the group since day one—Wendt. One fellow joined in 2009, took a break to have three children and settled back in. Two guys entered their 14th season, and one only has two months in the tenors.
On the Australian leg of the 30th anniversary tour, Wendt brought back Nathan Kneen who was 18 when he first sang in 1995. “He was brilliant.” Once you have been in the group, you form bonds and friendships that last a lifetime. Recently the group was presented the “Keys to the City” in Brisbane, which is the highest honor an individual or organization can be given.
Still, members leave and need replacement. The choices depend on what role the exiting member sang. Classical or rock tenor, for example. Sometimes the audition voice grabs you, Wendt says.
After the audition, he and musical director Michael Edwards take the candidate to the pub across the street for a couple of pints or coffee if that’s what you’re into.
“We use that to get a sense of the off-stage person. That is equally important for us because when the guys are on tour, they live in very close quarters so we have a big responsibility to ensure we don’t hire someone that will be difficult on tour. In 30 years, I think I have only gotten it wrong three times and we just didn’t rehire them after that tour,” Wendt says.
Women don’t sing tenor, hence no women on stage singing. But Liz Wheeler is a sound engineer. In the past, women served as musicians and a production assistant and have handled merchandise sales.
Besides the Three Tenors, the singers cite as influences Alessandro Saffina, Enrico Carusso, and Mario Lanza. On the rock side, the boys mention Freddy Mercury, Bono, Meatloaf, John Farnham, Steve Perry, and Peter Cetera.
This year’s show features a classical crossover medley and a beautiful ballad, Wendt says. There are two acts and a 20-minute intermission. They’ll do a cross section of numbers from throughout the 30 years.
“Make no mistake, it is a full concert experience with a beautiful accompanying light show,” he says. Act 1 runs around 50 minutes, and Act 2 runs around 70 minutes including encores, and an acapella vocal arrangement. Six classically-trained opera singers and four more contemporary voices comprise the troupe.
“Everyone gets their time to shine in the show.”
Thank Edwards, Wendt says. “I think he does an excellent job. Readers will have to come to the show to hear which songs we do.”
IF YOU GO:
Date: Saturday, March 21
Time: 8 p.m.
Where: The Levoy Theatre 126-130- N. High Street, Millville, NJ 08332
Phone Number: 800-642-7676
Tickets: From $58.50 to $113.50, available at the box office or at levoy.net/event/the-ten-tenors
https://thetentenors.com
