Three Britons and one American, collectively known as
Teatro (Italian for "Theater"), released their self-titled debut album at the end of November 2007, a collection of favorites from musicals. Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey, and Stephen Rahman-Hughes got together after experiencing individual success in the world of theater and, backed by
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, they chose for their first album some of the best known and most loved songs from stage and screen, including "Music of the Night," "Love Changes Everything," "Memory," and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from various
Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, through to "Over the Rainbow," "Luck Be a Lady," and "Edelweiss" from rather more seasoned shows. So, how could they go wrong? Well, they went wrong because this was a tried and tested formula with songs that have been covered far too often, and the four singers -- nice and pleasant as they were -- offered nothing special or new to the arrangements, which were sung exactly as they would have been in the shows. Any emotion that might have originally been present had been mercilessly wrung from the songs; for example, "I Dreamed a Dream" the song in Les Miserables where Fantine realizes she has lost everything she had ever had in this world, was turned into a pleasant ballad with the lads harmonizing at various points of the song, and "I Am What I Am," the declaration of individuality from La Cage aux Folles, seemed to be less about individuality and had the stamp of corporate record companies all over it. The album charted in the first week of December but failed to reach the Top 40, and by Christmas it was gone. One wonders just how many times these songs can be released on albums and the public expected to pay yet again to hear someone singing them. ~ Sharon Mawer