After more than 30 years of holding auditions in Prince George, you would think that nothing really ever surprised Judy Russell.
Until Mathew Chiappetta walked through Russell's dance studio doors and blew her away with his singing talent.
Chiappetta, 22, who grew up in Toronto and went to school in Ontario, took a year-long teaching job at College Heights elementary for Grade 1 French immersion, covering for a teacher on maternity leave, and when he heard about the audition, walked in, started to sing and thrilled his audience, Russell said.
Chiappetta takes on the role of Javert, the malicious police officer in Les Miserables, which takes over the Prince George Playhouse stage from July 16 to August 3.
"I really don't think I am the villain," he said. "I have talked to many people about this and people always say 'you're the bad guy', 'you're the mean guy', but I disagree. In many, many ways I am representing the law at the time, what is tolerated and what is not tolerated at the time."
Along with the challenging role came the awkwardness of being the new guy in a town where all the theatre people know each other.
"In rehearsal, all my parts are really harsh and mean and very stern but I try my best to talk to the other chorus members so they know that I am not really like this at all," said Chiappetta, who has no theatre training.
Chiappetta grew up singing in St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto. The school offers an enriched academic program, offering extended French instruction while nurturing a life-long love of music. The choir school is only one of a handful associated with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome.
"I sang with the choir for eight years and as a choir we toured Europe, the United States and all over Canada," said Chiappetta. "So I have done formal vocal performances and engagements with different politicians, we sang at World Peace Day with The Pope, we sang for the Queen when she visited Toronto but no actual theatre. So that's one of the things that I was most concerned about when I auditioned."
As a result, he has been working hard on his acting skills for the last few months.
"I want to not only sing the part but I want to act the part also," said Chiappetta. "Because you can hold the note but you also have to make it believable. Luckily , I've been told it doesn't take much for me to come off as mean and ruthless."
Tickets are on sale at Studio 2880, 2880 15th Ave., or by calling 250-563-2880.
