HIGH CULTURE ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET
Lauded soprano’s son presents Madama Butterfly
Vincent Thomas has deep roots in the opera community. The only son of renowned Ottawa-based soprano Maria Pellegrini and stage director Steven Thomas, he practically grew up in rehearsal halls — although he admits there were plenty of times in his teenage years when he wanted to listen to Led Zeppelin instead of Puccini.
Thomas went on to study a different form of music, specializing in jazz vocals and trumpet at Humber College in Toronto. He played in Latin and jazz bands throughout his 20s, and had a seven-year stint in the saddle as a lance-toting knight who competed in jousting events at Medieval Times in Toronto.
Although he demonstrated the power of his voice when he took the lead in his mother’s company’s 2004 production of Don Giovanni, by then Thomas knew that singing opera wasn’t his thing.
“I know the kind of discipline it requires and my interests are too broad just to focus on singing,” Thomas said during a break in rehearsals this week. “I have the instrument, I just don’t use it much.”
These days, he’s better at being in charge of the operation. Under his artistic direction, the company his mother founded is mounting a semi-staged, one-night-only production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Saturday.
Thomas has been directing the Pellegrini company productions since 2010’s re-mounted Don Giovanni. It didn’t take long for him to tighten up the business side of the company, establishing it as a non-profit organization in 2014. He’s determined to maintain an opera tradition in Ottawa, even when it has to be done on a shoestring budget.
“I wound up here because there isn’t an aspect of opera production or performance that I haven’t done,” he said. “There’s definitely an appetite for it in Ottawa. I know there’s all these budget constraints, and I’m always trying to bring the best talent for the budget I have.”
This year’s production stars acclaimed Polish-born soprano Maria Knapik, who’s being coached by Pellegrini herself in the part that was the diva’s signature role. The cast also features Ottawa tenor Corey Arnold as Pinkerton, youthful mezzo soprano Danielle Vaillancourt as Suzuki, Ottawa’s emerging tenor Grayson Nesbitt as Goro, and the handsome baritone James Levesque as Sharpless.
Under the musical direction of Andrew Ager, Giacomo Puccini’s iconic score is performed by an 11-piece chamber ensemble, with Aude Urbancic on piano. It will be sung in Italian with surtitles in English and French.
With Thomas’s preferred venue, Dominion-Chalmers United Church, in the process of being taken over by Carleton University, this year’s major challenge was in finding a suitable stage. Folks at the Ukrainian Banquet Hall came to the rescue, although the show had to be adapted because of the lack of dressing rooms. Only a couple of scenes will be fully staged, including costumes.
Stripping down an opera production, traditionally one of the most lavish theatrical endeavours, may seem like a risk, but Thomas believes the key is the quality of the
singing.
“It’s the highest form of expression of the human voice, both biologically and artistically,” he said. “When you’re in the presence of a real opera singer, without microphones or anything like that and they’re singing in your direction, your body starts to listen. You realize it’s not volume, it’s resonance. I’ve had friends from all walks of life who have been changed by opera.
“I’m really happy with what we’ve assembled this year,” he added.
“The first rehearsal is a really big tell for me. It went well, and I’m very, very confident we’ve got a great show.”