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Calgary Opera Statement Regarding South Pacific
Calgary Opera Statement Regarding South Pacific
Tuesday,April11,2017(Calgary,Alberta)CalgaryOperasChairoftheBoard,
MichaelBrown,madeastatementregardingthecontroversysurroundingthe
castingofSouthPacific,tobeproducedaspartofthecompanyssummer
outdooroperafestival,OperaintheVillageinAugust.Theproductionhasseen
theoriginaldirector,setdesignerandasupportingroledeparttheproduction
recentlyoverthecastingoftheroleofBloodyMary,intheRodgers&
Hammersteinmusical.Originally,therolewasputonhold,butnotcontracted,to
amezzosopranowhoisCaucasian.Sincethen,CalgaryOperahasbeensearching
foranAsianmezzosoprano.
CalgaryOperahasbeensearchingforapersonofethnicbackgroundtofulfillthe
role,andwillsoonbecastinganappropriateBloodyMary,saidBrown.Every
effortisbeingmadetopresentthissociallyimportantproductionofSouthPacific,
andweintendtodotheproductionjusticeinallaspects.
TheoriginalrolewaswrittenforaTonkinesefemale,anddebutedwithamezzo
sopranoAfricanAmericanintherole.InCanadaandintheoperaworld,this
combinationishardtocomeby,butweareardentlyworkingonandcommitted
tofindingthevoiceandattributesthatbestsuittherole.Thisleadsustothe
questiondonowalloperaroles,asignificantlysmallpoolofprofessionalsfrom
whichwealreadyhavetochoosefrom,becomeonlyavailabletothosewiththe
originalethnicityinmind?Thisopensupawholeseriesofdebatesaboutcasting,
andonethatCalgaryOperaBoardtakesseriously,saidBrown.
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Formoreinformation,pleasecontactPaulaArnold,Director,Marketing&
Communicationsatparnold@calgaryopera.com