When Fraser Lyric Opera Society makes its debut tonight, it will have the leadership of professional singers in the starring roles.
It will also have a large portion of the cast covered by local singers, some of them community veterans and some of them emerging youth.
Two of the youngest, Finlay Peterson and Paige Marriott, took time out of rehearsals to talk about a professional opera production in their own hometown that makes room for aspiring singers like themselves.
Peterson is in the role of Margaret while Marriott is in the role of Isabella in Batrice et Bndict, the 19th century opera by Hector Berlioz that sets the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing to soaring music.
"It's a great learning experience, I'm thankful to be involved in this," said Peterson.
"What you get in Prince George, usually, is opera performed by people brought in from Vancouver, but this is mostly Prince George people working with some imported professionals, so everybody wins," said Marriott.
"There is a lot of musical theatre influence here, but not so much opera - that classical influence. I hope people come to see it, because it is different. It shows off different kinds of talent," Peterson added.
These two young and aspiring talents aren't shoehorned into their roles.
Both, like the others in the main cast, have earned their way into the program. Peterson was in the news recently for winning her vocal category at the 2014 provincials then co-headlining a recital in Prince George. Marriott was in the news also, just last week, and again it was an adaptation of the great bard. She was one of the performers in the triumphant outdoor Shakespeare production by Bound To Create Theatre on the lawns of City Hall leading up to Summerfest.
The leadership of Fraser Lyric Opera Society starts with one of Prince George's premier vocal coaches and choir directors Melanie Nicol, who plays the lead role in this production, so much of the direction has been handed off to stage director Brenna Corner, conductor Stuart Sladden, and pianist Deena Grier paying special attention to the supporting cast during rehearsals.
"Deena has been coaching us on the language and how that goes with the music," said Peterson.
"She really questions our choices. She makes us think about why we made decisions with our singing," Marriott said.
The stars of the show - Nicol, Matt Chittick, Anna Shill, Peter Monaghan, Barry Booth, Luke Lapp (the latter two are local) - are also either from Prince George or young in their singing careers and likely to be back for future productions. The operatic singing community is small in Canada, so part of the opportunity for the younger singers is mentorship by people they will probably cross paths with again.
"No matter how tired you are, or what else is going on in your day or your life, everyone here is part of a supportive atmosphere," Peterson said.
"We all work together really well. There is a lot of laughing, but we all know to keep on task," said Marriott. "It's things like this that make me think all the more that I'm making the right choice for this to be my career."
Batrice et Bndict will be staged at Theatre North West (TNW) tonight at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are on sale at Books & Company or online via the TNW website.
