Tag Archives: Utah

Introducing Gentri – The Gentlemen Trio

Regular readers will be aware of Gentri as a trio of tenors that hail from Utah, as they featured in the review of Alfie Boe’s recent concert appearance in Utah.  And with excellent timing, they have just released their first album and I caught up with them to review and chat about them and their music.

Firstly, Gentri comprise Brad Robins, Casey Elliott, & Bradley Quinn Lever who all have extensive backgrounds in musical theatre. Between the three of them they have starred in dozens of roles in shows such as Phantom of the Opera, A Tale of Two Cities, Beauty and the Beast, AIDA, Tarzan, and The Scarlet Pimpernel.  Two months prior to coming together as a group, they each starred in a sell out run of Les Miserables playing the roles of Valjean (Casey), Marius (Brad) and Enjolras (Bradley Quinn).   There’s that Les Mis connection again! When the decision was made to join forces as Gentri it was decided that their individual performing careers would go on hold in order to commit everything to building and developing the group.

Their debut album (click here to listen to sample tracks on their website), released on Tuesday, showcases their superbly blended tenor vocals with what they themselves term a cinematic pop sound.  All the original songs are written by the trio who say

As actors by trade, we knew that in order for our performances to stay authentic on stage and as well as come across the same way on the recorded album, we needed to write about things that meant a lot to us personally. We write and perform music not for the sake of merely entertaining, but strive to compose music that inspires.

The result is an uplifting, epic sound that would sound right at home on a movie soundtrack which is exactly the note they were striving for as Brad mentioned when I asked if making the songs uplifting and inspiring was a conscious decision:

It absolutely was a conscious decision. When you seek to inspire rather than merely entertain, you end up doing both.

Four of the seven songs are written by the trio and of these, Dare is my favourite as it seems to sum up the musical style and ambition of the group.  Their musical influences are also noticeable; mainly musical theatre, not surprisingly given their performance history.  These include Alfie Boe, Ramin Karimloo, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Douglas Sills as well as Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Michael Bolton, Michael Buble, and Kenny Loggins.

Given that they name Alfie as one of their musical influences, I asked how it felt to duet with him on Songs of the Siren at the recent charity concert.

Each of us have been big Alfie Boe fans for years, and the opportunity to not only share the same stage, but actually sing with him was a dream come true for us. It seems like every great musical artist or group started out with musical idols and mentors that helped them get to where they are today. Our story is no different as we strive to model our craft after some of the greats who have gone before us, not the least of which being Mr. Alfie Boe.

Alfie has always been quick to acknowledge the help, support and encouragement he received as an aspiring performer and it’s great to see new artists citing Alfie as an influence and inspiration.

Gentri’s album is available now from Amazon:

Gentri

and here is their first ever music video, Dare:

 

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Alfie Boe Shines at Utah Concert

Last Saturday, Alfie Boe performed to a mostly local Utah crowd as part of the Elizabeth Smart/Underground Railroad charity event which raised money to fight human trafficking.  Alas I don’t live in Utah but several friends live either in Utah or near enough to be able to fly to the concert, so we are lucky enough to be able to review the concert for you!  The following is written by a long term Alfie fan, Roberta Kappus (who wrote a fabulous review of Les Mis on Broadway for us) and a new fan (in fact, she was Boe’d right there on Saturday night!), Lisa Saxon.

Upon arriving at the venue, just outside Salt Lake City, we could hear Alfie singing and immediately rushed to the edge of the auditorium to see and hear what we thought was a sound check. We later found out it was actually the end of the rehearsal.  The orchestra and the performers had only gotten together on the day of the performance and rehearsals had been going on all day for everyone. What we didn’t realize at the time was that Alfie was already dressed for the show. He did see us standing in the back and gave us a wave.

There was then a meet and greet arranged, for which 400 people had signed up ; although Alfie was not the only performer there we were naturally concerned that everyone would want to see him and we wouldn’t get the chance. Luckily, the organisers were kindness itself which we discovered when some of our group (former members of Alfie’s previous fan site) began to tell the staff about us and other fans.  This led to them taking photos of us and then we were told to follow them…down several flights of stairs to a sub basement somewhere in the building.  They had just made arrangements for the 16 of us to see Alfie separately from the Meet and Greet group for a few minutes!  We were told that Alfie was meeting with the governor and would see us next.  The door opened and Alfie walked out looking somewhat stunned to see 16 of us standing there. He quickly regained his composure and graciously said a few words to each of us while posing for pictures.

The performance was great – Alfie began with Chitarra Romana which was followed by A Vuchella.  He was wearing jeans, a collarless white shirt hanging down below his waist coat and looked great. He was relaxed, confident and putting everything he had into each of the songs.   Alfie’s next song was Wheels of a Dream and one of his best performances of this song that I have heard. By this point it was really clear that Alfie was not holding back. He was putting everything into each song – all the emotion and passion that he had. And the audience knew it.  A  standing ovation duly followed.  Then came In My Daughter’s Eyes which he dedicated to all the fathers in the audience. Lisa, she who has just been Boe’d, says

I get it now. I really get it. After Alfie Boe finished his soul-penetrating rendition of “In My Daughter’s Eyes,” at the benefit concert at Utah Valley University, I was on my feet – giving him a well-deserved standing ovation. My dear friend Claire and my new friend Cheryl smiled broadly. In that moment, both knew I had been Boe’d.

Roberta goes on to say that Song of the Siren which was never one of my favorites became one that night. That was sung with Gentrie,  3 tenors in their late twenties who had performed earlier. This was really the best Song of the Siren I have ever heard Alfie sing (thanks to Claire smith for sharing):

Alfie introduced the next song by saying it was from the movie Moulin Rouge which never made it to a musical show and that was too bad because he would have been excellent in the role. Obviously the song was Come What May sung with Rachel Woodward Hansen. This was the second standing ovation of the night and well deserved.  I’ve added this video to the youtube page – click here.  Altogether Alfie received 4 standing ovations.

People in the audience were now shouting “Bring Him Home“. Alfie went to the microphone and said that his next song would be from Les Mis which drew a lot of applause. Then he announced it would be Who Am I. To me this was the best song of the evening. I think Alfie put all the emotion and passion that he could into this song.  He was truly in Jean Valjean’s world.  This was the third standing ovation which went on for a very long time. Alfie left the stage after the song and was off for longer than usual before coming back for his encore – Bring Him Home which is always excellent. The applause for Who Am I never stopped until Alfie came back on the stage. It never decreased in intensity either. In my opinion Who Am I beat out all the other songs as best for the evening (thanks again to Claire):

As well as Lisa, many of the audience did not know Alfie before this concert but they are surely new fans now! Some comments made directly after Alfie’s performance:

“Speechless. Could not have asked for more.”  “I loved it. Better than the O2.” “Bloody great. The set list was unexpected. ” “Just WOW.” “He could not have done better.” “Wonderful. He blew everyone away.” “Loved the songs he picked given that there were no arias. Fine voice.” “He killed it.” “There is no doubt Alfie owned the night.”

Thank you to Roberta and Lisa for reviewing and commenting for me, much appreciated.  It would be lovely to think that more Alfie concerts could be scheduled for the US but methinks that may be asking too much – in the meantime, you could always move to Utah!

if you’re a new fan since the concert, welcome!  check out the Discography page (click here) to find out more about Alfie’s amazingly versatile recording career

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Exclusive! Join Alfie Boe’s Official Fan Group! – Updated

Fantastic news for Alfie Boe fans – there is a new forum open on facebook!

Alfie and his management company recognise that fans love to get together and chat about Alfie, the music, the events, life in general so they have come up with this forum / fan site.  It’s a closed group so all you need to do is click on the link below and join – any member can then approve your request and you can join in the fun!

click on Alfie to join!

 

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If you’re not on facebook, don’t worry, it’s really easy to join and as well as being able to chat with other Alfie fans you’ll also get information on Alfie news as and when it happens.  Update 4 April: It just so happens that there has not been much news to share since the fan group started – so don’t worry that things aren’t being shared, they will be when there is some news!  Until then…

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Don’t forget – all confirmed dates will be shared here as and when that news becomes available !

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