Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Dial "O" For Opera

Last week you learned a few facts about Pam Armstrong, the spectacular soprano who performs all four female roles from The Tales of Hoffmann (I'm out of breath just thinking about it.) This week I got some time with Gaétan Laperrière, the baritone who continually foils Hoffmann's chances at love (seen here in Boston Lyric Opera's production of the opera). Like Pam, Gaétan portrays four different roles: Coppelius, Dr. Miracle, Dapertutto and Lindorf. He also has four costume changes and has to convince the audience that while this is the same actor, the characters are still somewhat separate. Despite all these challenges and a busy schedule, Gaétan shared some trivia about himself with me that I now share with you…

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was young, I always wanted to be a singer just like my uncle, who was an opera singer all through his life. Actually, that's too easy. I really wanted to be a pitcher in the major leagues. I played baseball for ten years. I also played hockey for ten years and would have loved to be a hockey player, too.

What was your worst subject in school?
Algebra.

If you could spend a day living in a TV show or movie, which one would it be?
I would enjoy being in the TV series "Monk." I find the presence of Tony Shaloub very entertaining and I love every actor in the show. My wife and I actually just bought the DVDs of seasons 3 through 5 and 7.

What's your comfort food on a really bad day?
On a bad day, I would probably eat a hamburger and onion rings with a Diet Coke.

That's all from Gaétan - don't forget to head to the Tattered Cover on October 28 for our Meet the Artists panel. I'll be there - come say hi!

See you next week!

[Photo credit: Jeffrey Dunn / Boston Lyric Opera]

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