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A Musical Affair To Remember

Il Divo + Broadway = a magical night

Concert Review by Jason Clevett (From April 2014 Online)
A Musical Affair To Remember: Il Divo + Broadway = a magical night
Image by: GayCalgary Magazine
A Musical Affair To Remember: Il Divo + Broadway = a magical night
Image by: GayCalgary Magazine
A Musical Affair To Remember: Il Divo + Broadway = a magical night
Image by: GayCalgary Magazine
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Combining pop and opera into their act, Il Divo has for a decade been reworking songs by everyone from Tony Braxton to Leonard Cohen to Broadway show tunes, selling more than 26 million albums. Touring behind their 2013 A Musical Affair album, the tour of the same name brought classics to life as only Il Divo can.

Il Divo consistently performs in arenas, but the Jubilee Auditorium – where so many Broadway shows have appeared – was an appropriate location for the April 13th concert. It was still a spectacle, with a rock half wall behind the 18 piece orchestra, complete with giant screen and effects. Shortly after 8pm the lights dimmed and the international superstars - Swiss Urs Buhler, France's Sebastien Izambard, American David Miller, and Spain's Carlos Marin emerged from the fog to Tonight from West Side Story and Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific. “Do we have any musical fans tonight?” Miller asked to cheers. “Crap, now we have to be good.”

And they were. Whether it was iconic songs like Somewhere Over The Rainbow or The Impossible Dream or lesser known songs like Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Else Needs Me) from The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd, the concert was big, bold, and exactly what one would expect from the group. That included Carlos turning on the charm. “There are so many beautiful women here tonight,” he purred, before comparing music to making love. The show also featured a fun surprise as happy birthday was sung to David Miller, first from his bandmates then the audience, as the youthful singer turned 41 the next day.

Il Divo welcomed Broadway diva Lea Salonga on the tour, something she admitted was exciting and scary.

"Il Divo has a lot of female fans, and here I am on tour with four achingly handsome men," she joked, before thanking the audience for being so welcoming. Any envy would quickly have evaporated as soon as she did a spectacular rendition of Wicked's Defying Gravity. She joined the group for Can You Feel The Love Tonight as well as A Whole New World – fitting as she was the singing voice of Jasmine in Aladdin.

The list went on with more classics – Salonga singing a mashup of her two Les Miserables roles - I Dreamed a Dream and On My Own as well as Salonga and the group's spine tingling rendition of Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera. After a standing ovation to Frank Sinatra's My Way the audience clearly was not done, chanting “yes” when Miller would argue “no” they were done. Il Divo invited Salonga back on stage to conclude the evening with the epic Con Te Partiro (Time to Say Goodbye).

Despite the thick layer of cheese that was spread heavily through the show, beyond the effects and the good looks was this undeniable truth. Il Divo makes beautiful music and when their voices combine at the right moment, it will take you to a beautiful place. Whether it is the emotion of a song, or the memory associated with it, there is no doubt that A Musical Affair will be one to remember.(GC)

Image by: GayCalgary Magazine
Image by: GayCalgary Magazine

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