Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, ON - MYOpera (formerly Metro Youth Opera) returns for its sixth season with a production of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia. MYOpera's artistic team, including Artistic Director Kate Applin, Music Director Natasha Fransblow, and Stage Director Anna Theodosakis have hand-selected eight of Toronto's most promising emerging artists to star in this new production.
The cast features mezzo-soprano Christina Campsall in the title role of Lucretia, baritone Nicholas Borg as Tarquinius, soprano Jonelle Sills as Female Chorus, and tenor Daevyd Pepper as Male Chorus. The cast also includes 19-year-old baritone Jacob Feldman as Lucretia's husband Collatinus, baritone Evan Korbut as Junius, soprano Anne-Marie MacIntosh as Lucia and mezzo-soprano Victoria Marshall as Bianca.
"It's a very exciting cast we've put together this year," says MYOpera Artistic Director Kate Applin. "We've found extraordinarily talented emerging artists that come from across the country to begin their opera careers in this vibrant city. The calibre of performers that we auditioned for this year's production of The Rape of Lucretia really demonstrates that Toronto, like Canada as a whole, is punching above its weight in terms of its ability to produce excellent skill and artistic integrity in the opera world. It's a thrilling time to be producing opera in this city."
As part of its ongoing mandate to support both its artists' artistic and professional development, 2016 also marks the launch of MYOpera's Lunch & Learn Series. This new program will bring professional training sessions directly to like the season's cast to enhance the artists' preparation to take on the professional world as artists. The first session of the season will bring Chris Enns of Rags to Reasonable in to host a workshop with the cast on personal finances on an irregular income. Two further sessions will be hosted over the course of the rehearsal period for The Rape of Lucretia.
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Britten’s first chamber opera, The Rape of Lucretia is a dark and tragic story based on the life of a Roman housewife. The original story, as told by the likes of Ovid, Fasti, and Livy takes place in 509 BC and the events of it are, in part, a catalyst for the founding of the Roman Republic. MYOpera’s production will transplant this story from Ancient Rome to mid-20th century Rome in 1946, as the country prepares for its first election after the terrors of World War II. Regardless of the historical setting, this sombre story resonates clearly in today’s conversations about consent and gendered violence. MYOpera’s new Stage Director, Anna Theodosakis, will bring this work to life along with Music Director Natasha Fransblow from April 29 - May 1, 2016. For the third year in a row, MYOpera will present in the Aki Studio at Daniels Spectrum, strengthening existing ties with the Regent Park community. The Rape of Lucretia will run for three shows only: Friday April 29 at 7:30 pm, Saturday April 30 at 7:30 pm and Sunday May 1 at 2:30 pm.
MYOpera was founded in 2010 by Kate Applin as an opera company in which talented emerging artists could advance their professional careers by performing complete roles and being compensated for it. MYOpera is designed to create viable development opportunities for young artists in all fields related to the world of opera: singers, stage directors, music directors, and more. Since its launch, MYOpera has mounted productions of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, a Triple Bill of Stravinsky's Mavra, Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona, and Vallerand's Le Magicien, Humperdinck's Hänsel & Gretel and Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict.
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Visit myopera.ca for more information.
The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten
Friday April 29 at 7:30 pm
Saturday April 30 at 7:30 pm
Sunday May 1 at 2:30 pm
Presented at Aki Studio
Daniels Spectrum
585 Dundas Street East
Production Team
Artistic Director – Kate Applin
Stage Director – Anna Theodosakis
Music Director – Natasha Fransblow
Stage Manager – Katherine Belyea
Cast
Male Chorus - Daevyd Pepper
Female Chorus - Jonelle Sills
Collatinus - Jacob Feldman
Junius - Evan Korbut
Tarquinius - Nicholas Borg
Lucretia - Christina Campsall
Bianca - Victoria Marshall
Lucia - Anne-Marie MacIntosh
Photo: Christina Campsall as Lucretia.
2016-02-09
Toronto: MYOpera presents "The Rape of Lucretia" April 29-May 1