COURTESY ARMY COMMUNITY THEATRE
Age no snag
for singer
OK, so Buz Tennent will be celebrating his "big 5-0" birthday in August but is playing a character who is "32, or maybe 35 or 36," in Army Community Theatre's revival of "Kiss Me, Kate." So what?
"It's called acting," Tennent explained recently over a breakfast of smoked salmon and rye bread at a Kaimuki eatery.
Army Community Theatre presents "Kiss Me, Kate"
Where: Richardson Theatre, Fort ShafterWhen: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through March 13
Tickets: $14 to $17 (adults), $8 to $10 (children)
Call: 438-4480
"Kiss Me, Kate" opened last night, with Tennent opposite Cathy Foy in the classic Cole Porter musical based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew."
That upcoming birthday and an offstage love interest are two of the reasons Tennent has been eating healthier and exercising regularly since he played Father in Diamond Head Theatre's fall production of "Ragtime."
Another reason to lose weight, he says, is the demands his costume wardrobe is making on him.
"If you're going to be doing a male lead in tights, you'd better look the part," Tennent said.
"I've always wanted to do Petruchio, and had the opportunity to do it a couple of years ago (at Hawaii Pacific University), but I was living in Germany at the time. ... I've always wanted to work with Cathy Foy. We went to the UH-Manoa together and had the same voice teacher, and I thought it would be a neat opportunity to work with her -- and it's a fun role. It's delightful to be able to do Shakespeare as a play within a play, and the songs are memorable. Cole Porter is venerated for being the writer of classic songs."
Foy, who put in a Po'okela award-winning turn in the same role in HPU's aforementioned 2000 production, is the designated star of ACT's show. The story is the backstage drama that occurs when an egotistical producer-director-actor, Fred Graham (Tennent), attempts to mount a production of the Shakespeare play with his ex-wife, Lili Vanessi (Foy), as Katherine. Graham and his ex bicker almost as fiercely backstage as they do when performing onstage in character as Petruchio and Katherine in Shakespeare's original battle of the sexes.
"KISS ME, KATE" is Tennent's second show of the theater season, and his return to the local stage also signals his return to Hawaii after 12 years of doing opera and musical theater in Germany. He was initially contracted to the Hannover Staatsoper (Hannover State Opera) but also worked with other opera companies over the years. He also appeared in musicals, starring as Curly in the first German-language production of "Oklahoma!" and as Emile de Becque in the first German production of "South Pacific."
"I was an American playing a Frenchman singing in German (in 'South Pacific'). Doing Curly in German in 'Oklahoma!' was a challenge, but I'd just been (in the country) for a year, and so my American accent actually worked for me," he said, then breaking into song for a demonstration of how "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" and "Surrey With the Fringe on Top" sound in German.
Tennent says he enjoyed working in an environment where singing is considered a serious profession. Changing economic conditions and the need to help his father, however, brought him back home.
"I was fortunate to get my contract right before the Berlin Wall came down (in 1989), and so I was one of 'the last of the Mohicans' in terms of getting work. ... After the Wall came down and the two Germanys merged, there was massive unemployment and they closed down a number of theaters, and consequently work was harder to come by. That's why I played on my 'versatility.' I learned, as a baritone, you should not only be adept at opera, but also musical theater, oratorio, recital concerts -- I even branched out into narration work, voice-over, and am now teaching privately.
"They're not as welcoming (of Americans) now because there are too many singers and too few positions, but in Europe singing is a respected craft. They're really very respectful of it -- and I appreciated that -- and it's state-funded art, so they're much more developed than we are here. I put in 12 years over there and got a lot a good experience. I feel like I really paid my dues.
"That's not to say that I wouldn't go back to do occasional concerts -- I'm keeping my options open -- but I am settling here."
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