On December 20, I had the great pleasure of seeing a holiday concert performance of The Broadway Boys as a benefit for the Jamie A. Hulley Arts Foundation at the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. Backed by a terrific onstage band, the Boys—Tim Young, Mike Backes, Sam Dowling, Gabe Violett and Brad Greer—put on a sensational holiday show, plus some Broadway songs.

The Broadway Boys are made up of about 25 or 30 performers who, in various groups of five or six, tour the country and the world with their concerts. The five extraordinarily talented young men who performed at the concert I saw have New York credits from such shows as Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, Jersey Boys, and Altar Boyz. Whether harmonizing together or shining in their individual solos, The Broadway Boys were pretty wonderful and the performance was a pleasure.

Six Broadway Boys also played the Quick Center for the Arts last year, and I was immediately won over by their inventive styling of Broadway tunes. This year, the emphasis was, fittingly, much more on holiday songs. The group worked flawlessly together, and it was also especially nice that, during the evening, each performer came forward to talk about his individual holiday experiences when growing up and they each got a song to perform on their own.

Tim Young put over a glorious "All I Want For Christmas (Is You)," while the handsome and rich voiced Brad Greer delivered a terrific "Grown-Up Christmas List." Sam Dowling hit some amazing high notes during the group performance of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sings and both he and the amazing Gabe Violett shared a beautiful "A Place Called Home," with each singing solo sections of the song. Finally, the super Mike Backes got an especially enthusiastic response from the audience when he sang a delightful "This Christmas."

Still, they perform most excitingly as a group. Some of the highlights included stellar renditions of "The Drummer Boy," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "Give Love," and "The Lights (Hanukkah Song)." Their harmonizing, intricate choreography, and song stylings were pretty spectacular. I was thrilled that they threw in a few Broadway tunes for good measure, including "Lullaby of Broadway," a moving "Seasons of Love," and Tim Young tearing into "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," which he sang to a girl from the audience whom he brought onstage.

The evening was further highlighted by the inclusion of two students, Johnny Shea and Peter Charney, who joined The Broadway Boys onstage to sing a splendid duet of "Let It Snow." These two young performers were so good that it was easy to imagine that they may one day actually become Broadway Boys themselves.

The entire show was a huge success for The Broadway Boys and they certainly got everyone into the holiday mood by the conclusion, singing the song "Angels" and a group of Christmas melodies, before delivering an encore of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," which they encouraged the audience to sing with them. If you ever have the opportunity to see The Broadway Boys, whether in a holiday show like this one at The Quick Center for the Arts or in a more traditional evening of Broadway tunes, it is highly recommended.

For more information about The Broadway Boys, please visit their website at www.bwayboys.com.

- Zander Opper