An Outside Perspective – Guest Review of Ronan Tynan
New York’s loss is Boston’s gain
After a falling out with the New York Yankees, Ronan Tynan left the Big Apple last March and moved to the North End of Boston where he’s settled in nicely. The Irish tenor received a hero’s welcome Friday night at the Cape Cod Melody Tent where he entranced fans with his magnificent voice, natural warmth and spicy sense of humor.
Tynan blamed State Senator John Hart of South Boston, who was in the audience, for trying to turn him into a Red Sox fan by giving him a team jersey at the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.“So now the prodigal son can never go back to the New York Yankees. That’s done,” Tynan quipped.
At 275 pounds and standing over six-feet tall, the 50-year-old singer cuts an imposing figure onstage. “What you see is what you get,” he cracked, mocking his prominent ears and bald head.
Tynan warned the audience early on that he was in the mood to “cut loose” and he did. During the two and a half-hour concert he told colorful anecdotes about his life and his rookie days as an opera singer including the time he fell on a diminutive Japanese performer. There was constant good-natured banter between him and his long-time accompianist/back-up singer, Bill Lewis.
Tynan didn’t take singing lessons until he was 33. His first audience consisted of the cows he milked on the family farm in Country Kilkenny, Ireland. Born with a birth defect, his legs were amputated at the age of 20. A true Renaissance man, Tynan went on to become an orthopedic surgeon, Paralympian gold medalist, a founding member of the Irish tenors and motivational speaker. The singer, who wears two prosthesis, joked to the women in the audience ” I can be any height you want.”
But it was the voice fans came to hear and he delivered with a well-chosen mix of Irish favorites, traditional ballads and Broadway show tunes. Tynan’s tenor is big and expressive. Highlights of the concert included the pretty ballads “Will You Go Lassie Go,” “Grace,” “Sing Me an Irish Song” and the rarely performed “Fields of Athenry.” Tynan’s depth of emotion came through in the powerful anti-war song “There Were Roses” by Tommy Sands about the 1916 uprising.
Tynan’s superlative operatic voice shone in Leonard Cohen’s gorgeous “Hallelujah.” His lush rendition of “Oh, Danny Boy” showed his range from soaring to whisper soft notes.
Tynan showed he’s more than just an Irish tenor with his smashing rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” and U2’s jaunty “All I Want From You.”The big surprise of the evening was Lewis, a superb pianist with a melodious voice in his own right. Lewis served up a beautiful interpretation of “Meadowlark” and a knockout arrangement of “My Funny Valentine” while accompanying himself on the piano.
- Johanna Crosby, freelance reviewer
