They are beautiful and each one has their own style and timbre of voice. They dress well, sing wonderfully well and attract a mixed audience, mostly made up of women and gay men. They could even be classified as a new boyband, but the boys from Teatro, a group that has just released their first album of the same name, are certainly much more than that.
Formed by Stephen Rahman-Hughes, Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander and Simon Bailey, the Theater sings classics from West End and Broadway musicals in a very peculiar way. All the members – three English and one American – have already been part of productions in New York and London – Simon Bailey, for example, played the protagonist in Les Miserables and refused an invitation to participate in The Phantom of the Opera to join the group. .
Very correct in its repertoire, the debut album presents themes from the main musicals already staged, songs that have collected 23 Oscars, 11 Golden Globes, 39 Tony Awards and 3 Grammys. To sieve the stupendous voices of its members, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra accompanies the album's arrangements, highlighting the beauty and sound of the compositions, among them “Music of The Night (O Fantasma da Opera), “Over the Rainbow” (The Magician of Oz), “Can You Feek The Love Tonight” (Lion King) and “Don't Cry For Me Argentina” (Evita).
In an interview with the website GayDarNation, Stephen explained that each song has a particular meaning. “The songs have very different styles, some are older and others more contemporary, but they all had arrangements specially prepared for us, creating a unique sound,” he said.
Some of the chosen themes, in fact, are normally performed by women. But as Stephen explains, the songs had to be adapted to be sung by male voices. “We had to think a lot about the repertoire. We reinvented the songs to make them work with our voices.”
According to Stephen, what differentiates the group from boybands is that Teatro only sings “showtunes”. “No one else has done this since the Rat Pack [a group formed by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who during the 60s made several appearances together]”, he recalled.
Regarding the fact that gays are a potential audience for the group, Jeremiah is emphatic: “I think the gay community is a great supporter of the arts, and having them as a fan would be an honor.” In the interview with GayDarNation, Jeremiah confessed that he has been flirted with by other men and that his best friend is gay. “But I was never tempted to be with another man and the pick-up lines made me very flattered.”
“Theatre” was produced by Nick Patrick, responsible for artists such as Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Russell Watson, Tony Bennett and Katherine Jenkins. The arrangements were composed by Jorge Calandrelli, winner of seven Grammys, with songs by Sting, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, Michael Bublé, among others.
Find out more about the group and listen to excerpts of their songs at www.teatromusic.com.
