Emmett O’Hanlon of Celtic Thunder
As someone who grew up with adults who loved the big bands, show tunes, and the occasional opera (I can still hum many parts of Madame Butterfly), I shouldn’t be surprised when someone younger than I am-say, 23, young enough to be my child—has equally eclectic musical tastes.
That would be Emmett O’Hanlon. The son of Irish immigrants (Armagh, Tipperary), this young New Yorker is one of the fresh faces of Celtic Thunder, the all-male, all-ages singing quintet that has dazzled audiences all over the world (and, notably on PBS) with their highly staged numbers that are, to borrow a turn of phrase from pop singer Meghan Trainor, all about that voice.
O’Hanlon will be bringing his voice—a strong, rich baritone—and a playlist of the songs he grew up with to the Hard Rock Café in Philadelphia on Friday, August 21, as part of his first solo tour.
“I always say I was born in the wrong age,” said O’Hanlon as we chatted by phone while he walked through the streets of Manhattan a few weeks ago. “I belong about 30 years ago. I’ll be doing a good mix of classical musical theater, a bit of crooner ‘rat pack’ music and some opera. And a touch of classical Irish—some of the things I do with Celtic Thunder and some surprises.”
Rat pack? Crooners? Opera? Uh, make that 50 years ago, when songs were lyrical and romantic and crafted for slow dancing.
“I always say there’s never better music to woo your significant other. Who can listen to ‘My Funny Valentine’ and not die?” he said.
Not me.
Expect to hear songs from Les Miserables, which was his first starring role–in high school—as well as South Pacific, Carousel, and Camelot. I will be able to sing along. I know all the words. But, rest assured, I won’t. O’Hanlon’s voice is so poignant and pure that it brings audiences to their feet and to tears. Sometimes, even he cries.
“During one of our shows, I sang the hymn, ‘O Holy Night’ where II have to hit this G high note. Afterwards, people jumped to their feet applauding, and I was in tears. Of course, all the guys made fun of me. ‘Do you want me to call your mom?’ But it’s amazing when so many people jump to your feet for this art you just made. The rest of the tour the guys were keeping a tally of how many standing ovations it got! But the level of love the fans have for the guys—I don’t think they know how much it affects us. We’re moved every time.”
Like many performers, O’Hanlon grew up surrounded by music. His father, a retired doctor and drummer, and his mother, a restaurateur and interior designer, are both musical. And so are his siblings. “My older brother, James is a tenor version of me—I keep begging him to come out on an O’Hanlon Brothers tour with me—and our sister, Slaney, is better than both of us, but she’s a competitive polo player. The singing helps with giving her a loud shouting voice. She uses her powers for evil.”
The love of older musical genres came directly from his parents. It was the music that was always playing at his house. “My big band music phase was huge when I started to learn how to play the drums, those big band drum solos were amazing. In our house opera was on all the time. While all the other kids were listening to the latest R n B tunes on their headsets, I was listening to ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ or some opera aria, bopping my head, pretending I was listening to rap. I’ve been a dork my whole life.”
On the other hand, he said, he was such a Michael Jackson fan that he did one of Michael’s tunes in his fourth grade talent show. “I even did the dancing, which gave a lot of people giggles—this white Irish kid doing Michael Jackson moves.”
He started voice lessons when he was eight (after five years of piano lessons) and remains with the same teacher, Terrence Goff, whom he credits for “getting me to do the right things and do them more often.”
The Celtic Thunder break came by chance. He got friendly with Matt. the son of Celtic Thunder producer Sharon Browne when they were both bartending at a Manhattan restaurant to make money for college. “We’d go out and be Irish after our shifts and became very close,” said O’Hanlon.
Then, one day, Matt asked Emmett to come into his mother’s office to get her advice on his career and to sing for her. They skyped Celtic Thunder’s musical director David Munro when Emmett was singing and Munro recognized him from a YouTube video Emmett has posted that he’d just seen.
Brown and Munro agreed—the best advice they had for O’Hanlon was “join Celtic Thunder.”
“It was written in the stars, I think,” says O’Hanlon.
He’s been, as the Irish say, over the moon ever since. “I absolutely love it. It’s incredible, indescribable. I go do a wonderful job all over the world with a bunch of guys who are my best friends. They’re the best at what they do. I’ve never gotten paid to have fun and I just couldn’t think of a better way to spend my days than working with these people.”
You can hear Emmett O’Hanlon yourself at the Hard Rock Cafe in Philadelphia, 131 Market Street. Doors open at 8 PM, the show starts at 8:30 PM. Tickets range from $32 to $52 and are available here.
