Tony Bennett tribute concert highlights duets with Cape Cod singers at Cotuit Center

Tony Bennett’s music will be performed live on Cape Cod once again — this time by a group of local singers.

“To me he’s one of the most talented American singers that we ever produced,” says show producer Ruth Condon of Brave Horse Music. Condon is a lifelong Bennett fan and a singer herself. She helped organize a similar Bennett show at the Cotuit Center for the Arts in 2015. The show this time around will incorporate material the crooner, who died in 2023, released since then.

Bennett, no stranger to duets, collaborated on multiple albums with other singers over the years, including Elton John, Gloria Estefan, and most recently, Lady Gaga.

The music legend had become somewhat of a summer staple on Cape Cod thanks to his performances at the Cape Cod Melody Tent over the years. Tony Bennett: A Tribute Under the Stars will honor the late crooner with an assortment of 24 different songs spanning his career, focusing mostly on duets along with a few solo performances. The production will take place at the Cotuit Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. on the outdoor stage every Friday and Saturday over the course of three weeks. It started on Sept. 5 and runs through Sept. 20.

This iteration of A Tribute Under the Stars features a mostly new cast of “unbelievable” singers, such as Sara Sneed, Trish Larose, Kate Pazakis, and Condon. Anthony Teixeira, who was involved in 2015, will host the event and share many of these duets. The singers are backed by the Cotuit All-Star Band and choreographed by D.J. Kostka.

“I really wanted to revisit this beautiful music with some of my favorite musicians and collaborators,” adds Teixeira. “It’s really awesome to have the chance to try it all again with a decade worth of experience as a working artist on the Cape.”

Despite being what Condon describes as a young group of singers, the generational difference between them and Bennett did not get in the way of their appreciation of his music.

“They really were never exposed to this music when they were growing up and the first time I brought it to them they were just like ‘Oh my God,’” she says. “It’s timeless music.”

Condon’s approach to A Tribute Under the Stars isn’t for the singers to outright replicate every song but rather recreate them and make them their own when possible. Staying away from doing impersonations is important to remember.

“You don’t want the audience to leave disappointed,” she says. “Some of (the songs) you leave the same and then some of them you put a whole different twist on so that people are like ‘I didn’t even think it could be like that.’”

In a fitting twist, Condon recalls the time that she got to meet Bennett while on Captiva Island years ago. She was staying there for the winter as part of a season-long residency performing at the island’s restaurant. She saw him walking down the beach and approached him.

“I introduced myself to him and he’s laughing and goes ‘How old are you? You listen to my music?’” Condon says. She told him she was singing that night at the restaurant so he said he’d drop in. He stopped by for about a half an hour and gave her a thumbs up before he left.

Condon remembers him being “gracious” and friendly.

“I think that’s why his career was so long,” she says. “When you look at the people he sang duets with it’s crazy, and it kind of reflects what kind of person they are.”

Although many years have passed since that meeting on the beach, Condon’s reverence for Bennett has remained, as evident with the upcoming multi-week event. Bringing a Bennett show back to the Cape is an opportunity to pay respect to the singer after his 2023 death, adds Condon.

“Bringing it back is kind of timely because he just died and I just love to share this music with a whole other generation because it’s unbelievable music,” she says.

How to get tickets

For tickets, visit https://cotuit.org/shows-events/tony-bennett-a-tribute-under-the-stars Tickets cost: Regular: $35; senior/veteran: $33; dual members: $30

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Tony Bennett tribute concert pays homage at Cotuit Center for the Arts