HISTORY | MISSION | DAVID SPEERS
- GENERAL DIRECTOR
MAESTRO DANIEL LIPTON | OPERA ONTARIO CHORUS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
COMPANY REPERTOIRE
From: Dorothy O'Halloran
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I joined the chorus of Opera Hamilton when it was formed in 1979 and in the last 25 years I have sung in over 60 operas and sung in Italian, French, German, Russian and even English. I have also played many characters, for example, a French aristocrat, an Egyptian slave, a peasant and even a nun.
When we performed our first Aida in 1983, we had live animals on stage. In the Triumphal Scene, one large cougar was chained onto the litter which carries Radames onto the stage. The cougar suddenly decided to go for a walkand stepped off the litter, only to hang by his neck. Fortunately, the supernumeraries carrying the litter were members of the Tiger Cats football team and they quickly put the litter down and the trainer, who was in costume, collected him and took him off stage.
In 1987 we did a marvellous production of Andrea Chenier. I wore a gown which was a replica of one worn by a French aristocrat in a portrait the French director had seen in Paris. It was exquisite. With it I wore a wig that was almost two feet tall and very difficult to wear, and I also had to carry a live laso-apso dog downstage to a card table where I had to play cards. The dog was very well behaved, although his heart beat a little faster when the tenor sang his high note close by.
Over the years the company has put on productions that have updated the settings of the operas to more modern times. For example, Don Giovanni was set in Hamilton in the 1950’s, La Bohème was set in German occupied Paris in the 1940’s, La Cenerentola was set on a cruise ship in the 1920s and our last Don Pasquale was set in the American Wild West in the 1800s.
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