Bodhi Tree Concerts Presents Enrique Toral In A Gender-Bending Concert

The award-winning Bodhi Tree Concerts, the San Diego nonprofit that presents eclectic musical concerts that raise funds for local nonprofits, presents acclaimed local tenor Enrique Toral in an exciting concert celebrating Broadway. "Back to Broadway: The Songs I've Never Sung" will be held at the La Jolla Community Center on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.

Enrique Toral Back to Broadway: The Songs I've Never SungSaturday, May 18, 2019 - 7:00pmLa Jolla Community Center6811 La Jolla Blvd., La JollaFREE Valet Parking
Benefiting The San Diego LGBT Community Center
Recognized by the Chicago Tribune for his "ardent and radiant singing," Enrique Toral performs an unforgettable celebration of the Great White Way in a stylish cabaret, taking audiences on a thrilling tour of time-honored selections, injecting his vocal stylings into Broadway standards never before sung by the artist.

Enrique Toral made his Broadway debut in Baz Luhrmann's Tony Award-nominated La Boheme. With a voice as big as his personality and backed by a three-piece band, the program will include selections by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Kander and Ebb, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, and Jerry Herman.

"I wanted to put a cabaret together that would cater to all and nothing is more embraced than the American musical," says Enrique. "In this program you'll hear songs that I have loved since growing up, as well as songs from musicals that were playing during my time on Broadway while I was appearing in La Boheme, with a few other showstoppers thrown in for fun.

"I have truly never sung these songs before! Additionally, I've opted to keep the lyrics intact when it comes to gender," Enrique adds. "All female and male pronouns will remain as written. The songs are beautiful as they are and I hope to do them justice and bring a new dimension to them through a gay man's perspective."

Although he is recognized as an operatic tenor, Enrique started out singing jazz. Eschewing the traditional approach to putting a classical recital program together, he has set aside gender, genre or character type for this program, selecting songs from musicals like The King and I, Nine, Gypsy, Follies, and Cabaret. Most of the selections are usually sung by women, so in traditional casting he would not have the chance to perform them.

Enrique is well-known to San Diego fans of opera and musical theatre. He has performed in venues such as Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Copley Symphony Hall, and in more than forty-five roles with New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera, New Orleans Opera, and the Ravinia and Tanglewood music festivals, to name a few. he has been hailed as "an excellent tenor" (Boston Globe) whose "unusually vivid" (Opera News) portrayals have been recognized across the country.

One hundred percent of the profits from this concert will be donated to The San Diego LGBT Community Center, one of the largest and most vibrant LGBT community centers in the nation. The Center provides targeted programs and services to the full diversity of the San Diego LGBT community, including men, women, youth, seniors, transgender and non-binary individuals, families, LGBT Latino community members and their families, and those living with HIV. Last year, The Center provided more than 82,000 direct service visits to San Diego community members, and through its events, activities, and advocacy, touched the lives of thousands more.
Information and tickets: https://www.bodhitreeconcerts.org

The 2019 season continues with the Music en la Calle Free Multicultural Music and Street Food Festival on June 15; Sing-Along Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance on September 22; and the return of All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 to the Veterans Museum on November 15-17.

Tickets and SubscriptionsSingle tickets to Bodhi Tree Concerts are $25 general admission ($30 for All Is Calm), $15 for students and military. Season subscriptions are available and make a great holiday gift: $80 for four concerts (a $100 value). www.bodhitreeconcerts.org.

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