Four join for ‘Vocal Soup’

Just on the face of it, it's pretty cool that Clint Holmes, Susan Anton, Domenick Allen and Martin Nievera will perform together this weekend in "Vocal Soup" at the Suncoast.

What's even cooler: Listening to the performers talk about how excited they are to work together.

"We're really having a good time," Anton says. "It's so great that Clint had this great idea and wanted all of us to get together."

"Vocal Soup," with special guest Vincent Falcone, Frank Sinatra's pianist and conductor, runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will, of course, include solo spots from each performer.

But, in a quintessentially Vegas-flavored departure from how these things are normally done, a full 45 minutes of each 90-minute show will see the singers working together in everything from ensemble pieces to duets to, even, just singing backup for each other.

"I had been thinking of doing this for a long time," said Holmes of what he called "this crazy idea" of a handful of "down-front, headlining entertainers doing a show together."

While the four knew each others' work, they hadn't necessarily worked together before. But during rehearsals over the past several weeks, they've learned about each other's musical tastes, vocal styles and rhythms. That will help to lend to the shows the sense of spontaneity, improvisation and fun that long has been part of Las Vegas entertainment.

"The show you saw tonight is not going to be the show (we're) going to do tomorrow," Holmes said. "That's one of the real magical things about the whole concept. The easy way out would have been for everyone to do 20 minutes of their act, but that doesn't serve the purpose."

Of course, making it work requires performers who not only are willing to step out of the spotlight, but who trust one another completely. When that exists, Anton said, "you take risks with one another that you maybe normally wouldn't take because you know you're dealing with friends up there."

Actually, she joked, "the hardest part is for all of us to learn harmony. We're all used to singing lead."

Also difficult, Allen joked, is singing backup for Nievera, a recording, concert and TV star in his native Philippines.

"I don't think there's any easy way to learn (lyrics in) Tagalog," Allen said.

"I don't think we're going to know what it will be like until we do it," Holmes said. "Our rehearsals have been a lot of fun. We challenge ourselves in terms of creating and learning material."

"When you leave your ego at the side of the stage and just bring your creativity onto the stage with you, anything can happen and the audience benefits," Allen said.

"I think it's gonna be fun," Holmes said. "That's what the whole idea is, honestly."

Best of all, this could be only the first in a series of "Vocal Soup" collaborations.

"Definitely, with the work and time we put into it, I would hope it would have a life beyond this," Holmes said.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.