BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Last year, we took you backstage with opera stars in our interview series Behind the Curtain.
This year, we’re going to take you inside the minds of these performers.
Our new series Blood, Sweat, Opera exposes the inner workings of the opera singer, from performance anxiety to memories; sources of passion to the thoughts that race as they perform.
The West Australian Opera states that, for us all, “blood is life-force, symbol, power, and passion”. So we’re teaming up to bring you exclusive and personal conversations with world-renowned artists.
And they each have opera in their blood.
Meet James Clayton
James Clayton will perform the title role in WAO’s production of Macbeth, which is a pretty big deal. He’s also sung with the Tasmanian, West Australian, Queensland, and New Zealand symphony orchestras — not to mention his appearances with Opera Australia and Victorian Opera.
James was awarded the role of Young Artist with WAO from 2006-7, and here’s how he made it from these early stages to the main stages, so to speak.
Take us back to your earliest memories of wanting to sing. What were your dreams of the stage?
The earliest memory I have is of being chosen to sing the solo in our school choir at about age 7. It was an arrangement from the 1973 film Godspell and I sang the solo of Prepare ye the way of the lord. I still remember distinctly the moment where the teacher went around the room giving everyone a shot, and when I had a go everyone applauded and I got the solo in that moment. Definitely a flashbulb memory!
Tell us about the memory of the first performance you gave that you felt was a ‘big break’, or made you realise: I can really do this.
When West Australian Opera had its 40th anniversary gala concert at Government House Ballroom, I was involved in a scene from the modern American opera Susannah by Carlisle Floyd. In the scene, I played the role of Olin Blitch — the evangelist who delivers a powerful sermon. I walked through the audience and worked the room and truly felt for the first time that I had them in the palm of my hand.
As you started to build up your career, what sources of passion did you draw from to push you forward?
There’s no denying that I had mouths to feed and, at the time, working in the chorus for West Australian Opera was a supplement to my teaching work. However, as I was involved more and more with this artform, it literally grew on me. I thought to myself: ‘This is as pure as you can get – I carry my instrument with me everywhere!’.
I literally fell in love with the artform and was inspired by the artists involved in it, notably other performers such as Bruce Martin, Michael Lewis, and Orla Boylan, to name a few.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way, which you thought would set you back or crush your confidence as an artist?
The biggest challenge as an artist for me has been myself, overcoming my own fears and doubts on a daily basis. This is something I’m still dealing with, and probably always will.
Performance, like any other artform, is subjective. So sometimes, even feedback can be confusing – one person can love what you’re doing while another can hate it. The challenge is ultimately taking all of these things and somehow ‘filtering out’ the useful, practical information whilst learning to identify what is only a subjective ‘opinion’ (including my own).
From there, you can move forward in a constructive manner — but this can be quite a process!
What’s been your experience with performance anxiety?
Performance anxiety is a very real and under-emphasised phenomenon. Over the years as a performer, I have suffered everything from nausea, heart palpitations, hot and cold sweats, dizziness, and more long-term effects such as decreased self-esteem, mood swings, and depression.
The key for me is preparation. There’s a saying in our industry – ‘Nine-tenths preparation’. If I am over-prepared for a role, then all is well. On the other hand, if I am under-prepared, it can be the worst experience ever, calling all of my skills, ability, and integrity as a performer into question.
What are the things that are going through your mind while you perform?
This has changed a lot over the years. In the beginning of my career, it was a mix of fear based thoughts such as ‘what if this note cracks!’, and technical info like ‘make sure to watch the conductor on the cut-off’, or ‘remember to take the cup upstage and put it on the table before exiting’.
These days, I strive to have all of those thoughts during the rehearsal process and be purely in character during performance. I feel that this engages the audience more powerfully and allows myself, my colleagues, and the audience to be swept away in the artform.
How important do you feel it is to achieve a balance between your onstage and offstage identity?
It’s very important, especially when playing the role of a villain.
I’ve had to really work on ‘switching off’ when I leave the stage or rehearsal room, otherwise I can be irritable, sensitive, and downright difficult to live with!
When you’re not singing, how do you physically care for your voice as well as your body?
Diet for me has been key here – and I don’t mean going on diets, but rather through a process of elimination discovering and removing foods from my diet that I am sensitive to. For example, a few years back I gave up dairy, which led to a weight loss, which in turn improved my overall health and wellbeing and sleep quality.
I also exercise regularly, drink a lot of water, and work really hard on having a routine around sleep to help minimise the impact of the irregular hours of rehearsals and performances.
To other young singers, what advice would you give to forging a healthy career in this industry?
A lot of young singers are disillusioned upon graduating from university and not finding work.
Your degree is where you learn your craft and hone your skills as a performer as well as network with other artists and explore future options such as international study.
However, once graduated, I think it’s best to think of yourself running a small business.
The general rule of thumb for a small business is: 50 – 100 hours per week for 4 years; the first and second years you will run at a loss; the third you will break even; and the fourth you will see your first profit.
Of course, this is only my opinion, but it’s also what I did and it seemed to fit. Years one and two, I sang in the chorus and spent all of the money I earned on lessons. I also taught, as this was not quite enough to make ends meet.
Year three, I was emerging artist with the company and basically broke even from doing education performances. And year four, I was young artist and performed my first role.
The following year, I was able to quit all of my teaching work and focus only on singing as a viable ‘business’.
Of course, in the arts, ‘profit’ can be either monetary, experience, scholarships, or awards, but with a bit of tweaking I think this model works and is as good as any to help create an overall plan for a career path.
See James Clayton as Macbeth in this WAO production. If you’re under 40, tickets are just $30. The production takes place at His Majesty’s Theatre from 19-26 October, book online.
READ NEXT: Blood, Sweat Opera // Emma Matthews, soprano
Images supplied. Emma captured by Carolyn Mackay-Clark.
