Performance: Detroit, MI
09-Mar-06

THREE MO' TENORS TWICE THE FUN

By Martin F. Kohn

It all began with "The Three Tenors," the 1990 concert that starred opera luminaries Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Whatsisname (Jose Carerras), which expanded to a hugely successful series of concerts.


This inspired director Marion J. Caffey to create Three Mo' Tenors, which starred three African-American tenors. They were well versed in opera and also at ease singing blues, jazz, Broadway, pop and gospel. The show has flourished after its original trio left to perform together under their own names.


Three Mo' Tenors should never be confused with the Three Irish Tenors, whose biggest star is the Guy Who Sings "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium, or with Michigan's own Three Men and a Tenor.


Glad we could clear that up, but you'll need to absorb one more piece of information.


There are six tenors in the current edition of Three Mo' Tenors at the Fisher Theatre: two casts of three who take turns doing the show. If the other cast is like the opening-night performers -- James Berger, Duane A. Moody and Phumzile Sojola -- audiences are in for a treat, whichever show they see.


The two shows differ primarily in their solos; core highlights remain the same. Both casts perform the old Cab Calloway song "Minnie the Moocher," which had everyone in the audience hi-de-ho-ing along on opening night. Both open with Verdi's "La Donna e Mobile" and both highlight "Make Them Hear You," a stirring anthem from the musical Ragtime.


So effective is "Make Them Hear You" that it is reprised after a false ending that induces many to head for the exits. Either somebody needs to fix this or everyone in the audience needs to read the program where "Make Them Hear You" is listed as the final number.


Opera singers are sometimes uncomfortable performing pop tunes but these guys make the shift easily. In a segment labeled "Hip Hop/R&B," they poke fun at themselves, donning baseball caps turned sideways.


With its plain but elegant backdrop, a pianist at stage right and four other musicians visible behind the stage, Three Mo' Tenors never pretends to be a musical. It's a concert, pure and not so simple, and a darned good time.

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