THE ROCK TENOR - Mixing Up Some Fun at the Wilma

"The Rock Tenor" made its debut at the Wilma Theater on July 16th.  The brainchild of Broadway performer Rob Evan and South Jersey native, and director Vincent Marini. As Marini relates, "Rob & I asked each other, if we could put together a 2 hour concert of our favorite songs, regardless of genre, what would that concert look like?"

Marini, former Producing Artistic Director of Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center has a lot of history with Evan having worked with him on several projects.

Be assured, this is no messy mismatch of unrelated music mixed in someone's basement/ studio. Several interesting professional arrangements combine a variety of music penned by some of the countries top arrangers including Henry Aronson (Rock of Ages, Grease), Kim Scharnberg (Little Women, Doctor Doolittle, London), Jeremy Roberts (musical director for Linda Eder, and several Frank Wildhorn productions), and Joseph Church (The Lion King, The Who's Tommy).

The idea is to "blend the genres, not "change" the songs completely, honoring the songs both "thematically and melodically", says Evan. Rob Evan is no stranger to stage and concert with almost 20 years as an actor having performed on Broadway in Les Miserables, Jekyll & Hyde and numerous other productions. He's also performed and recorded with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. www.rob-evan.com .

So, what does this all sound like: An evening of surprisingly impressive creative songs.

From a subdued 30-second "Hey Jude" intro into "Don't Stop Believing" into "Satisfaction" into "We Will Rock You" into "Kashmir" into "Carry on My Wayward Son" into "All Good People" into an interesting combo of Styx-"Come Sail Away", Mozart's "Eine Klein Nachtmusic", and the Theme from "2001 A Space Odysseys" and this was just the opening number.

By this time, the crowd is properly prepped for an interesting musical adventure.  Evan may be the co-creator and featured vocalist,  but he is joined by an equally talented cast and band of powerful, energetic talent. Featured singer, Julliard-trained Morgan James is stunning as she handles Handel and Heart as well as rocks it out with Queen.  Dustin Brayley and Aaron Lavigne, (For the Glory, tours of RENT) and Philadelphia favorite Alex Keiper share the spotlight for impressive duets and solos as well as add their power to the back up vocals.

Offside, sharing the stage with the vocalists and band are two stringed divas Susan Aquila (violin) and Betsy Goode (cello). Both long- haired beauties have equally long lists of affiliations including Billy Joel, Josh Groban, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart and Sarah Brightman.  Rounding out the casting is a solid band consisting of guitar, bass, keyboard and drums.

The extent of scripting for the show is a brief opening statement from Evan," this may be the most eclectic set of music in store for you that you can imagine-the only thing I hope is, you keep wondering what's next."

Some of the arrangements worked quite well, some not so impressive. Evan's "Bring Him Home" and Daughtry's "Home" mix flows nicely, as well as his fiercely delivered "Nessun Dorma" with a Kashmir rock feel. The Beatles mix , "Blackbird" into "Yesterday" into "Eleanor Rigby" highlight Lavigne & Keiper's instrumental & vocal talent. "Till there was You" (Music Man) and "Say" (John Mayer) seems to drift in and out of interesting moments.  Morgan James' "Time To Say Goodbye" leaves the crowd breathless.  The pace picks up with a fun/ glitzy, a little bit hokey "Paradise By the Dashboard Lights". The group shows their harmonizing talents with stirring versions of "Hallelujah" and "Hosanna", though if one were running short of program time these may not be sorely missed.

The much anticipated Queen Medley takes off a bit too somber with "Who Wants To Live Forever" accompanied by projected photos of musical icons who are no longer with us. I was hoping for "We Are The Champions".  However, the group recharges with rockin', well- delivered back to backs of "Somebody To Love" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love".

While there are many high points to this often bombastic, "in -your- face" program, the showstopper song is "Devil Went Down To Georgia" as Aquila and Goode strut their stuff along with the band and entire group.

Herrick Goldman's flashing lights and Nick Kourtides flawless sound add a quality to the show that should be envied by others in the industry. 

"The Rock Tenor" is an evening of energy, talent, surprise and fun that one can enjoy no matter what kind of music you love.

"The Rock Tenor " plays at the Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. Phila. through August 23 Tickets $25-$40. Information: 215.546.7824 or www.therocktenor.com

Song set list:

1. Opening - Hey Jude into Don't Stop Believing into Satisfaction into We Will Rock You into Kashmir into Carry on My Wayward Son into All Good People into an interesting combo of Styx- Come Sail Away, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusic, and the Theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey
2. Bring Him Home (Les Miserables) and Daughtry's Home
3. Beatles - Blackbird into Yesterday into Eleanor Rigby
4. Lascia Ch'io Pianga (Handel) into combo of Open Arms (Journey) and Johanna (Sondheim)
5. Nessun Dorma (Puccini) with a Kashmir rock feel
6. Kiss A Girl (Keith Urban)
7. O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) and Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi)
8. Alone (Heart)
9. Till There Was You (Music Man) and Say (John Mayer)
10. Life is a Highway (Rascal Flatts)

ACT II
1. Half An Acre (Hem) and Making Love Out of Nothing At All (Air Supply)
2. Besame Mucho (Andrea Bocelli) and Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (The Police)
3. Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band)
4. Caruso (written by Lucio Dalla) and Time To Say Goodbye (Francesco Satori and Lucio Quarantotto)
5. Paradise By The Dashboard Lights  (Meatloaf)
6. Hallelujah - (Leonard Cohen- as recorded by Jeff Buckley)
7. Queen - Who Wants to Live Forever, Somebody to Love, Crazy Little Thing Called Love
8. Hosanna (Rock version from Andrew Lloyd Weber's Requiem)
ENCORE - HEY JUDE

 Photo Credit: Jim Roese

 Dustin Brayley, Morgan James, Rob Evan, Alex Keiper, and Aaron Lavigne.

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