Just because the Straz stages are on intermission during the COVID-19 pandemic, doesn’t mean our Opera Tampa singers are home resting on their laurels – well, not all of the time.
About a month ago we caught up with Annie Scott, Alec Brown and Dana Clark, who also are roommates here in Tampa.
Scott is a soprano who appeared in A Night in Spain, The Witching Hour and Carmen; Brown is a tenor who appeared in The Witching Hour and Carmen as did Clark, also a soprano. Both Scott and Brown were scheduled to perform in The Pirates in Penzance which will now open the Opera Tampa season in January 2021.
The three jokingly apologized to their neighbors, we assume for the operatic singing emanating from their apartment while touting the joy of home quarantine with a side of wine while playing Scrabble, gardening and reading.
Check out Scott’s video about her life in lockdown titled “When Will My Life Begin: Quarantine Edition.”
The roomies did get serious when they shared a few of their most memorable moments as part of Opera Tampa.
Scott told us about her favorite moment during a duet with Luis Gonzalez in Act 2 of A Night in Spain.
“We had to act very dramatically, almost like a soap opera. At the beginning of the duet we were hating each other and by the end we were in love and the audience was laughing and engaged with us the entire time.”
Clark cited an experience in The Witching Hour as special saying she “got to dance around holding a skull with a bunch of witches and I got to use pyrotechnics at the very end of the show to shoot a fireball into the air.” She also said she had “so much fun” in Carmen. “I got to dance on tables and do some tambourine choreography with some of the principals. And I got to do my first fight scene.”
Brown brought up an appearance at the Christmas tree lighting at Armature Works as being meaningful. “It was so cool,” he said. “Santa was there and Mrs. Claus and a big tree. … “All the kids sat right in front of the quartet of us that was singing. It was such a fantastic time.”
Check out their performance of “5,000 Candles in the Wind” from Parks and Recreation on episode six of The Straz’s web series TTRL – Tampa Total Request Live. Their segment starts at 5:48.
Also, season tickets for Opera Tampa’ 2021 season are on sale now. The three-show package includes one ticket to each of the following events: Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Get your season tickets here.
We are eager to welcome you back to Opera Tampa and the Straz Center.