Gentri Sings Broadway at HCT

Bradley Quinn Lever, Brad Robbins, and Casey Elliott met each other in 2014 when they were cast as Enjolras, Marius, and Jean Valjean, respectively, in a production of Les Miserables at HCT (I don't remember if I saw them then but I definitely remember seeing them reprise their roles in HCT's 2021 production). The three of them have beautiful tenor voices and, when they realized how well they harmonized together, they formed The Gentlemen's Trio (or Gentri as they now refer to themselves). I love them (especially when they sing Christmas music) so, when I heard that they were performing a series of concerts at HCT in honor of their 10 year anniversary as a group, I immediately got a ticket! I had just enough time to get cleaned up from my camping trip for the concert last night and I enjoyed every minute, especially since the program featured all of the songs from their latest album, Broadway. They began with their original song "Dare" and then continued with "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha. Their Music Director, Stephen Nelson, writes beautiful arrangements for them and I especially loved their version of "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music because the harmonies gave me goosebumps! They dedicated their song "Lullaby" to all of their children and then performed an incredible cover of "Let It Be" by The Beatles (sigh). They performed an emotional rendition of "Home" and then the crowd went crazy when they sang "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman. One of my favorite moments came next when they sang a medley from The Phantom of the Opera including "Think of Me," "The Music of the Night," and "The Phantom of the Opera" and then they blew the roof off the theater with a powerful version of "Defying Gravity" from Wicked to close out their first set. After the intermission, they performed stirring renditions of their original songs "Soldier" and "On the Outside" and then they let the audience vote on the next song ("Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts won but I really wanted to hear "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan).  Next came "Out There" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and a moving version of "Somewhere" from West Side Story. To finish the set, Lever sang "Do You Hear the People Sing?" as Enjolras, Robbins sang "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" as Marius (this brought a tear to my eye), and Elliott sang "Bring Him Home" as Valjean. I absolutely loved hearing these songs from Les Miserables and this was definitely the highlight of the show for me (and the rest of the audience judging from the reaction). For the encore, they sang "Make You Feel My Love" and I think it is because I screamed so loud for it when the audience was voting for the next song! They were so charming and had some hilarious interactions with the audience. The Jewel Box Stage is very intimate (I was sitting on the front row) and Lever, my favorite, actually did look at me several times and smile (sigh) but during "Think of Me" he gave a rose to the woman sitting two seats down from me (so close!). They all spoke about the power of theatre to connect people and I loved seeing photos of them from various shows they have been in (even from high school). I really had to rush to get to the show on time (I left all of my camping gear in my car) but it was worth the effort because it was an amazing concert! They will be in residence on the Jewel Box Stage until August 23 and, if you want to see them, you need to act quickly because most shows are sold out (go here). I also highly recommend getting a ticket for one of their Christmas shows at the Eccles Theater on November 28 & 29 (go here).