World-class opera stars, soprano Sophie Sparrow, baritone Julien Van Mellaerts and bass-baritone Joel Amosa all honed their craft at Otago’s School of Performing Arts and they were all studying together in 2011 and 2012.
Since then they have gone on to become internationally-recognised opera singers, and are now converging from opposite sides of the globe to star together in the ultimate comic masterpiece alongside an Australasian cast.
Sparrow is back from performing in London’s opera scene, to make her highly anticipated principal role debut with NZ Opera as the clever, resourceful and spirited Susanna.
And Amosa, a former Lexus Song Quest winner and Auckland-based opera singer, will play the role of the heavily inebriated and crotchety Antonio.
Van Mellaerts was looking forward to performing on stage with the other two.
‘‘There’s nothing like having fun with old friends on stage.
‘‘It allows us to be so easy with one another and support our mutual silliness.’’
‘‘We get each other - the in-jokes from back in the day never died, and the banter is organic.’’
Sparrow said having close friends on stage with her during her principal role debut brought a sense of ‘‘calm and ease’’ to the situation.
‘‘Seeing and working with familiar people makes the nerves slip away.’’
University of Otago School of Performing Arts head Associate Prof Jennifer Cattermole said the trio had worked very hard to get to where they were.
‘‘They require just so, so many hours of work and dedication, and it’s really brilliant when all of that pays off.
‘‘We’re very, very proud of all our graduates who go on to do amazing things out there.
‘‘These three coming together are a powerhouse reunion - absolutely.’’
The comic whirlwind of love, lies and glorious chaos tells the story of how servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, despite the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva - who is trying to seduce Susanna.
What follows is a web of mistaken identities, secret trysts and upstairs-downstairs antics, as the household’s women and servants band together to outmanoeuvre the nobility.
The cast are now in Wellington, rehearsing ahead of the opening night next Wednesday for the three-show season, accompanied by Orchestra Wellington under musical director James Judd, at the capital’s St James Theatre.
