THE NEW ZEALAND OPERA SOCIETY

Gisborne Theatre Arts Inc will produce The Magic Flute in April. The musical director and co-director is Gavin Maclean and the cast will be largely a showcase of local talent from the Gisborne region: Catherine Macdonald, Claire Egan, Roger Wilson, Mike MacLeod, Richard Davis, Gill Fraser.

Catherine Macdonald, as the Queen, starred in last year’s Norma, and she has sung a variety of bel canto and oratorio roles, as well as the Queen of the Night for Dunedin Opera and Television One.

Pamina will be sung by young ex-Gisborne soprano Claire Egan. Claire is currently singing in Sydney and was studying with Anthea Moller for some years. She is continuing lessons with Catherine Carby and various coaches, including David Harper (who has described her voice as a ‘Stradivarius’).

Mike MacLeod, as Tamino, will be building on a wealth of experience in musical theatre and oratorio—notably Handel’s Jephtha in 2003. Papageno and Papagena will be sung by, respectively, Richard Davis and Gill Fraser, the Three Ladies by Marlene Nuttall, Dorothy Fletcher and Mary Cowper (she was Clotilde in Norma), and the Genii by teenagers Ally Findlay, Heneriata Wilson, and Kimble-Lee Berkeley. The guest singer takng the bass role of Sarastro is Roger Wilson.

The producers, Gisborne Theatre Arts Inc, have a history of excellent staged musical productions and special effects. Music director and co-director Gavin Maclean is forming a small chamber orchestra to accompany the production, and he expects to achieve the unique blend of pantomime and grandeur which is the goal of all Flute productions.

Memorial Theatre, Gisborne, 2 - 9 April.

Bookings: Stephen’s PhotoPlus Ticketdirect; ticket@sjphotos.co.nz; Ph (06) 863 1603; Fax (06) 868 1218.