Tenor Koutou

After playing at Wembley Stadium, most internationally-renowned tenors looking for the next place to perform, Takapuna may not be the obvious choice. But for Devonport lad Will Martin, he came home to play for Mother’s Day…

Will Martin By Request
Date: Saturday 08 May, 2010
Venue: Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland

After playing at Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Stadium and The Henley Festival, most internationally-renowned tenors looking for the next place to perform may not choose Takapuna as the obvious choice.

But for Devonport lad Will Martin, he came home to play for Mother’s Day at Takapuna’s Bruce Mason Theatre on Auckland’s North Shore for a very special concert. You see, Will decided fans could choose all the songs for the Mother’s Day shows, with over 300 songs submitted and many of them sung, in the two hour-long show on Saturday night.

Below: Apollo Troupe performers dance to "Mr Bojangle."

Will was joined by Rebecca, below.

Accompanied by two solo female singers, the Apollo dance troupe, the big brass of Rodger Fox Band, at times on the piano Elton-style, or singing unaccompanied, Will performed from 7.30 to 10pm only resting in an intermission.

Great as his tenor voice is, he’s more than a singer, he’s a natural entertainer too, telling stories and jokes and gently mocking his youthful appearance with a self-deprecating sense of humour in between songs. The audience loved his story of a woman on a plane asking if this was his first time flying, and if he was travelling alone. He was twenty-five!

One couple emailed a song request to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, and flew up from Nelson to Auckland to attend. The most requested song was "Going Home" and the weirdest was "Black Box."

Below: Jazz hands.

Radio contest winners got to select one of the numbers and they chose the New Zealand National Anthem, which Will sung in Maori and English, before suggesting the World Cup choose him to sing it as in the four times Will’s sung the anthem at an All Blacks test match, the All Blacks have always won!

Whether or not he sings at the World Cup, from Wembley to Takapuna, make sure you catch a Will Martin show yourself soon.

By Megan Robinson, 10 May 2010.

Photography by Stu Williamson of www.weddingcrashers.co.nz