Lend me a tenor

There was a great story this week in the Vancouver Sun about hapless singers from a Canadian choir standing out on a freezing bridge in their tuxes, trying to recruit more tenors. Funny, yes, but sadly timeless. Why exactly is it that choral and theater groups have such trouble finding male singers?

Every time I've written about a local choral group, I've asked if auditions are planned. The answer is always the same: "Well, we could use some more men. Especially tenors." It's true in the theater, too. It's enough to make a woman weep. How many times have I battled my way through auditions and call-backs, competing with a slew of other women who look like me and sing like me, and then after the cast list is up the director is still looking for men? How many guys do you know who get to stroll into call-backs on a regular basis without having to audition?

With reality shows still thriving, you'd think that more men would be encouraged to take the stage. After all, if a rock star can be lifted up out of a crowd, doesn't that mean anyone can sing? I wonder what the comparative numbers are of male and female contestants.

What is it about our society that makes people so shy about singing in front of others? It should be as natural as talking. Besides being a welcome creative and emotional outlet, singing is an excellent way to practice the rhythms of a foreign language, or pass on a forgotten piece of culture, such as a folk song from another century. And yet it can feel like crying in public, even when you're trained.

Male tenors, of course, face the added baggage of -- as the Sun article states -- sounding different from the gruff, "manly" sounds they are taught to think of as cool. Not everyone can star in "Jersey Boys."

What are other ways that choruses, theater groups and other organizations can attract male singers? Do you need to start with boys when they're young, doing performances and other educational programs at schools to show them the joy of bursting into song? Do you appeal to men by pointing out how many girls they can meet? Do you point out that Hugh Jackman is a heck of a singer? Even I want to be like him.

Photo by Ward Perrin of the Vancouver Sun, from the Sun's website.