Henry Choo: Game of Thrones, Donizetti, and Fringe World

BY GABRIELLE RUTTICO

 

OperaBox opens 2015 with flair in this week’s production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, part of the Fringe World Festival. Tenor Henry Choo speaks about the rehearsal process playing Lord Percy, working with OperaBox, and the dramas of being married to King Henry the 8^th.

 

OperaBox’s production of Anna Bolena been associated with the Game of Thrones thanks to the affairs, historical setting and violent deaths within. Are you a Game of Thrones fan?

I am, but truth be told I have only seen up until season two!

Do you think the show has helped you research your role?

What I really like about Game of Thrones is that it’s, for me, not about the violence or nudity or sex. What fascinates me is the power play – how the death of a particular character can completely change the balance of power. Similarly, when it comes to Anna Bolena, you have all these characters with ulterior motives and they are all trying to get into a position of power. Ultimately that’s why Anna became Queen. A part of her lusted for this power.

My character is much more straight-forward. It’s all about passion and love. His first love was Anna, of course. It’s made pretty clear by Riccardo Percy, from the moment he comes back from exile, that all he wants is to be near her and to get the message from her that she’s happy to see him. What he’s looking for really is confirmation that she’s going to entertain an affair with him, because realistically, it can’t be anything but an affair since she is the queen. He gets totally devastated when she says no. As, well, we all would!

You have spoken very highly of this opera, but the last performance in Australia was in 1875. Why do you think it has been such a long time?

I think it’s one of those things that has just fell through the cracks, one of those inadvertently overlooked things because of the directions of audiences’ tastes. It’s great music and it’s being performed and sung well. The time when these sorts of opera were performed would have been during the golden age of voice you might say, around the time when Joan Sutherland was singing. These days audiences now look for more dramatic roles. People love Puccini, and they love Verdi, and they love these wonderful things there and we are getting less and less of this bel canto style. Donizetti in particular has written so much beautiful music and of course, Anna Bolena was the one that really brought him international fame. Another very popular one and a favourite for me because it’s all about the tenor is Elixir of Love. That is my favourite. That comes completely biased.

How have you found working with OperaBox for the first time?

I’m really enjoying it. I came late into the rehearsal process so the company had been rehearsing already and I just sort of slotted in. What I found was a company that was extremely well run, not just in terms of the rehearsal side of things, but in all other aspects like publicity, marketing, set design and building, costuming; all those elements are coming together really well.

I would also like to say that in Australia we have this misconception that independent theatre equates to amateur theatre. For the record it’s not like that at all at OperaBox. There is nothing amateur at all with the way they are run, and certainly not in the way that they present their product. It’s extremely professional looking and the product has a really good quality about it. So I highly recommend people who are sitting on the fence, deciding whether or not they are going to come and see this opera, to come and be surprised by what an independent company with very limited funding can actually put together. It’s quite amazing.

So what is it like to be a part of the Fringe World Festival?

I’ve only ever been involved with Fringe as an audience member two years ago. I must say, looking at the program from two years ago to now, Fringe World has doubled in size. As a performer and being part of it, what I really love is that it’s put opera out there amongst other art forms and in doing has reached out to people who traditionally may not think about going to see an opera. So, with Fringe, you’ve got these people who are already interested in seeing performing things and here you’ve got DivaLicious doing their thing, the Dummies Guide to Opera, so you’ve got other companies doing their opera as well and its mixed amongst all of these other beautiful performing groups. Being amongst all of that takes away some of the elitism people associate with opera. I don’t think opera should be elitist – it should be accessible to everyone. In my opinion, you’ve got to be careful which opera you go to for the first time or the second time. If you go to the wrong opera, it can put you off. Even as a performer, there are some operas that I am not particularly fond of. So from that perspective, like anything, you have to be guided into the repertoire so you get the ones that you do like and that piques your interest, hopefully hooks you in and has you coming back for more. So from that perspective I think Fringe a wonderful thing for opera.

So you think Anna Bolena is ideal for first time opera-goers?

I think so because it’s the story of King Henry the 8^th, and it’s a story that certainly in the Western culture people are very much familiar with. I think just dramatically story-wise people can relate to it. Then added to that, you’ve got music which actually sounds like music, you know. It’s not so weird that you kind of shake your head in wonder. It’s very cheerful.  That’s another win for people who aren’t familiar with opera and of course, we’ve got a full size orchestra playing so you get real authentic sense of: ‘yes, this is what it’s like when you go to the opera’. You hear the orchestra playing and all of the different textures from the instruments and it really is an aural experience as much as a visual. Realistically, it is a tragedy because of the way Anna Bolena is portrayed. It is very sympathetic to her and puts her in a good light despite the fact that everything is going wrong around her. She remains strong and remains true to her vows. So it does paint her in a very good light. So from that perspective it is a tragedy but not in the more traditional sense of tragedy.

What’s next for you?

After this I’m heading up to Brisbane to work with Queensland Symphony which is… well, on one hand I’m kind of excited about it but on the other hand I don’t get to stay for the rest of the Fringe Festival. I’m a bit miffed about that! I’m going up there to perform a new work by Australian composer Gordon Hamilton and he’s written a work called The Trillion Souls. It’s based on the poem by Andy West, I believe a UK poet. The work was commissioned by the Queensland Symphony to partner with Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony. The 9^th Symphony is of course about the Ode to Joy, equality of man and peace amongst men. The Queensland Symphony were wondering what to put in the first half of the concert to partner that, so they commissioned this and Gordon has written this work based on Andy’s text, which is essentially about equality of gay marriage. Here in Australia it is a very current topic and it certainly has been embraced in other countries, but we seem to have hit a bit of a hump and we can’t quite get over the hump yet. This piece talks about the struggles that previous generations have had to get us where we are now and there’s hope about a future where things change for the better. Gordon doesn’t actually doesn’t want me to sing like a classical singer, he wants me to sing my role a bit like a rock singer. I’m looking forward to it – it will be lots of fun. First half, sing like a rock star and second half sing Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony!

 

Watch Henry Choo perform in OperaBox’s Anna Bolena tonight at 7.30pm, St Hilda’s Performing Arts Centre, Mosman Park. For other concert dates and tickets go to www.fringeworld.com.au.

 

Image supplied.