`Three Mo’ Divas,” coming to McCarter on Monday, February 18, follows the great success of Broadway writer/director Marion J. Caffey’s international hit “Three Mo’ Tenors,” which opened to critical and audience acclaim in 2000 and is still on tour. “Three Mo’ Divas” kicked off its National Tour this past October and comes to McCarter in observance of Black History Month.
The show stars Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, who has been seen in “Les Miserables,” “West Side Story,” and “Cabaret”; Laurice Lanier, a 2002 graduate of Julliard who has performed at Carnegie Hall and in “La Boheme” on Broadway; and Jamet Pittman, a Carnegie Hall soloist who was also in Broadway’s “La Boheme,” “Porgy and Bess,” and “Master Class.”
Versatility is the strength of these divas and the strength of the show. These three vocalists take on the difficult task of crossing eight musical styles and 400 years of music in one evening, including opera, Broadway, jazz, blues, soul, R&B, spirituals, and gospel. Production numbers range in diversity from the passion of Bizet’s “Carmen” and the haunting beauty of “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” to high-energy hits such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Proud Mary.”
Each diva has had serious classical training, and the concert opens with the divas showing off their critically acclaimed classical skills but quickly launches into a musical feast of music for audiences of all tastes and ages from connoisseurs of Bach to fans of Beyonce. As Caffey says, “This ain’t your daddy’s opera, baby.”
3 Mo’ Divas, Monday, February 18, 8 p.m., McCarter Theater, 91 University Place. Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Laurice Lanier, and Jamet Pittman present opera, Broadway, jazz, blues, soul, rhythm and blues, spirituals, and gospel representing 400 years of music in one evening. Written and directed by Marion J. Caffey. $37 to $43. 609-258-2787.
