The band evolved through a process of four hugely talented and like-minded singers – three British and one American – deciding that Teatro’s moment was at hand and fusing their talents, coming together through a happy mixture of invitation, recommendation and friendships.

Each had already achieved outstanding success in the West End or on Broadway - Simon Bailey for instance played the lead in Les Miserables and turned down the opportunity of appearing in Phantom Of The Opera to join the group which the singers believe will do for theatre music what Il Divo has done for opera.

We caught up with the boys (Stephen Rahman-Hughes, Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander and Simon Bailey) to find out more about the group already being billed as theatreland’s first supergroup.

Your album is about to be released, what can we expect?
Stephen: The album has twelve immense tracks on it. Each one is a classic and an absolute joy to sing. They are very varied in style, some old and some much more contemporary but they have all been arranged for the four of us, creating a unique sound - the Teatro sound.

I think the blend of voices has given the songs a new twist and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra bringing a lush, epic feel, it's easy to get swept away into a magical fantasy. It's a real sing-along album.

What is it about the album that you’re most proud of?
Stephen: I'm really proud of everyone who put their heart and soul into making a great album. There were so many people with the same passion and vision and the process was incredible. I made some amazing friends and feel so proud of the whole team. It's quite freaky to hear the final product and think ‘Wow, that's us. That's our voices’.

Have you got a favourite track on the CD?
Stephen: That's really hard - to pick just one. I love ‘I Dreamed Dream’, because it’s so tuneful and moving, I always get emotional when I sing it. Also I love singing ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ too as it's great fun to sing and builds nicely, it gets quite soulful. I like different songs for different things but those two spring immediately to mind.

“We stand out from other bands, I think, because we are the only group that just sing showtunes. No one has done that since the Rat Pack were around in the sixties.”

You’re covering a few songs that are traditionally associated with women. How have you adapted these for a male group?
Stephen: Yeah, we had to think long and hard about our song choices. Once we had tried our voices to those songs, we all agreed that the songs really worked. We've had to reinvent them to work for four guys but the songs stand up on their own; they're just great songs and out of context of their shows, we're very happy to sing them and make them our own.

What was it like performing ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’. Are you scared that you’ll be compared to Judy Garland’s classic original?
Stephen: Well, we can all agree that Judy's version will always be number one. I'm sure when you hear our take on it you'll enjoy it too. It's such a beautiful song, with velvet harmonies. It's definitely one of the prettiest songs on the album.

You’re being called a theatreland supergroup. What makes you guys stand out from the other classical ‘boybands’?
Andrew: Well, firstly we are not a 'classical' boyband. We don’t sing in an operatic or even classical way on the album and all our songs are in English (they are musical theatre numbers after all). We stand out from other bands, I think, because we are the only group that just sing showtunes. No one has done that since the Rat Pack were around in the sixties.

So how would you describe your style?
Andrew: Our style is one rooted in musical theatre - after all, that is our background. But we were very conscious when forming Teatro that singing showtunes as you would hear them on Broadway or the West End would limit its public appeal so we opted for a much more contemporary sound that wouldn't sound out of place next to Michael Buble or even a Westlife track.

You’ve got the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra backing you. What was it like working with such a huge and famous orchestra?
Andrew: It was truly inspiring working with such a revered orchestra. I remember the first day we went to hear them record the orchestrations at Angel Studios. We were sitting by the sound desks when they started playing the arrangement for 'I Am What I Am' and we all just sat there in awe in silence for three minutes, blown away by a 70 piece orchestra playing the accompaniment for our album! Unforgettable.

“Gay men are generally less afraid to express their emotions and feelings…which as a performer you have to be able to do with sincerity and I think that gay men can relate to that in a very accepting way.”

You’ve obviously got the triple threat of talent, looks and chemistry - how important do you think your rugged good looks are to your success?
Andrew: It's all hours and hours of make-up unfortunately but so far as looks being important for success I would be naive to say they don't matter, but out of those three - looks, chemistry and talent - 'looks' are by far the least important. Just think of all the boybands that flopped because they couldn't sing or didn't have that special ingredient - chemistry.

How does it change the dynamics of the group singing together rather than as solo artists – are you all secretly hankering after the limelight?
Simon: Not at all, the album is divided up generously between us and it is great to pull from my own experience and the experience of my very talented band mates to create a very exciting and innovative sound.

How did you guys all meet?
Simon: I had known Andrew since I was 13 as we both went to school together, Stephen I had met many times on the West End circuit and Jeremiah I met as we were all coming together in the workshop stage of Teatro.

So why the name Teatro?
Simon: We all found that, as experienced musical theatre performers, Teatro was a very elegant name for us and showed where we came from.

Gay men and musical theatre almost go hand in hand. Why do you think this is?
Simon: I think because gay men are generally less afraid to express their emotions and feelings, which is essentially what performers do when they sing as part of a performance, it can be an outpouring of grief or joy, which as a performer you have to be able to do with sincerity and I think that gay men can relate to that in a very accepting way.

Is it important to you to build up a gay following?
Jeremiah: Absolutely - I think the gay community by and large are very big supporters of the arts, and having them as fans would be an honour.

“We were sitting by the sound desks when they started playing the arrangement for 'I Am What I Am' and we all just sat there in awe in silence for three minutes.”

Have you performed at any gay events yet? Would you like to?
Jeremiah: Not with Teatro but I was, not too long back before Teatro, in Gayfest in NYC. I was in the NYC premier of a gay musical in which I played one of the two male leads and fell in love with another man and had a small love scene.....

As I’ve said before, you guys are an attractive bunch. Have you ever been chatted up by a guy before?
Jeremiah: Oh Sure, m best friend in the world is gay. I have been to gay clubs with him many times.

So have you ever been tempted?
Jeremiah: Never been tempted, but have been very flattered by the attention just the same.

Find out more at www.teatromusic.com.

Teatro, by Teatro
Label: Sony Bmg
Released: 26 November 2007
ASIN: B000WTNDKS

By the eponymously titled Teatro online now and save yourself some money!