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Dec. 15, 2006
A tale of two opera singers
Chan Centre is transformed into Venice for comedic romance.
BAILA LAZARUS
If you were asked what comes to mind when you put Jews, a theatrical
performance and Venice together, you might end up with The Merchant
of Venice, but this weekend, the connection between those three
elements has less to do with "Hath not a Jew eyes?" and
more to do with "Hath not a Jew a great voice to sing operetta?"
Two Jewish music students – one a tenor from Australia; the
other a baritone from Alberta – will be starring together in
the University of British Columbia Opera Ensemble production of
Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers. And though their own
lives don't mirror those of gondoliers Marco and Giuseppe Palmieri,
Melbourne's Adrian Glaubert and Calgary's Seth Drabinsky are set
for their roles.
"They're the handsome brothers that all the girls like,"
said Drabinsky in an interview with the Independent between
rehearsals. The performers' rehearsal times have been increased
from a half-dozen hours a week during the regular semester to full
days as the show approaches. Drabinsky, who is performing in his
first Gilbert and Sullivan production, says the music for operettas
can be simpler than that of operas, but it can also be harder to
sing. This is not Glaubert's first operetta, but his schedule has
been quite hectic because he's also been performing in Vancouver
Opera's Macbeth, in Italian, the language he finds the easiest
to sing.
Drabinsky, who is a relative of impresario Garth Drabinsky, started
his career in music as a self-proclaimed "band geek" since
picking up the trumpet in Grade 2. He went on to pursue musical
theatre and studied under a voice teacher who suggested that he
get more classical training. Eventually, he won a scholarship to
UBC and has been there for two years.
Glaubert's path from Melbourne to Vancouver was less direct. His
musical genes go back to his late grandfather, a cantor who survived
the Holocaust by performing for his Russian captors, and his grandmother,
who still sings for the Jewish community in Melbourne. He started
singing and dancing lessons as a child, then focused more on his
singing in his teens. He first came to Vancouver as an exchange
student two years ago, when he was studying musical performance,
specializing in opera, and has performed with UBC and the Vancouver
Opera. He said he started as a baritone but laughed, "I started
getting voice lessons [in Vancouver] and they turned me into a tenor."
After university, Glaubert wants to pursue his operatic career,
hoping someday to live in New York and sing with the Metropolitan
Opera, while Drabinsky thinks he might like to do musical theatre.
"The older ones," he said. "Like Rogers and Hammerstein."
For the moment, though, the two singers will be playing Venetian
gondoliers who are informed that one of them has just become the
king of Barataria. Unfortunately, only their foster mother, who
happens to be missing, knows which one. Since Barataria needs a
king quickly, they travel there to reign together, leaving their
wives behind in Venice until the mother can be found.
As it happens, the (as-yet-unidentified) king had actually been
promised to the beautiful daughter of a Spanish duke; the daughter,
however, is of course in love with a common servant. When the Spanish
daughter and the two Venetian wives all show up wanting to know
which of them is queen, the plot gets messy but, like all good comedic
romances, everything is revealed in the end and everyone goes home
happy.
The Gondoliers or The King of Barataria was the 12th
of 14 comic operas written together by librettist W. S. Gilbert
and composer Arthur Sullivan in England in the late 19th century.
Opening on Dec. 7, 1889, at the Savoy Theatre, The Gondoliers
ran for more than 550 performances.
The Gondoliers runs Dec. 14-16, 8 p.m., and Dec. 17, 3 p.m.,
at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. But because the
leads are "double cast," Glaubert and Drabinsky will perform
only on Dec. 15 and 17. For tickets, call 604-280-3311, go to www.ticketmaster.ca
or visit the Chan Centre box office in person.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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