Operatunity

In January 2002, English National Opera took on a challenge: To conduct a nation-wide search and find someone with no operatic experience who could be coached to sing in the opera Rigoletto on the stage of the London Coliseum, side by side with world-class performers. The result is Operatunity - a unique series for Channel 4, produced and directed by Michael Waldman (maker of The House, the celebrated and controversial series about the Royal Opera House).

This award winning four-part series follows the singers through this risky experiment. Participants include a builder with a passion for Puccini, a supermarket assistant who is a mother of four, a former chef, a Transylvanian pig farmer and a club singer. This unique series captures the excitement, the joy, the tears and the traumas experienced by applicants and judges alike as they all enter uncharted territory that climaxes with a live performance on the stage of the Coliseum.

Programme 1 Transmission Tuesday 11 February Channel 4 9-10pm

Can someone who has never sung professionally sing a major role in an English National Opera (ENO) production onstage at the London Coliseum with world-class singers? That is the premise of and the prize at stake in Operatunity, a new four part Channel 4 series made in association with ENO. Tonight’s opening film follows the excitement and activities in the intital stages of this unique and challenging competition. Over 2,500 video applications were received and 100 were called to audition up and down the country. A builder with a passion for Puccini, a supermarket assistant who dreams of singing for her supper, a Transylvanian pig farmer, a former policeman/wrestler/model and a club performer are just a few of the aspiring hundred who are put through their vocal and dramatic paces by a panel of opera professionals. Do any of them have what it takes to make it in the passionate and enchanting world of opera?

Programme 2 Transmission Tuesday 18 February Channel 4 9-10pm

It is the second stage of Operatunity with English National Opera, (ENO). Of the 2,500 would-be-opera singers who applied, 100 made it to stage one, and now there are only 20 left – all of whom are dreaming that they will win the much coveted prize of singing a major role along with world-class professional opera singers live on stage for one special night at the Coliseum in an ENO production. Tonight the remaining contestants are followed throughout an intensive training weekend of opera techniques and movement workshops led by key member’s of ENO staff, including Music Director, Paul Daniel. At the end of this round, each finalist will perform: to help the distinguished panel of judges decide which 14 should go and which six should proceed to the penultimate stage of this risky and awe-inspiring competition. Series Prod/Dir: Michael Waldman; Exec. Prod: Roy Ackerman; Prod. Co: Diverse

Programme 3 Transmission Tuesday 26 February Channel 4 9-10pm

The tension is mounting in the penultimate episode of Operatunity, and the third and final round of this competition. The final six have been invited to London for two weeks of the most intensive musical work of their lives where they will have to push themselves harder than they thought possible. They will have to learn the real business of opera, which is to be able to sing in a drama with other people. And at the end of this summer school they will get the chance to perform as an ensemble in extracts of various operas, in full costume, in front of an invited audience. It is after this that the panel, now also joined by celebrated opera singer Tom Randle and Freelance Director Leah Hausman, will decide who the winner shall be…and who wins the opportunity of a life time to sing in a major role for one special night along with a cast of world class singers in an ENO production at the Coliseum.

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A Diverse Production Ltd Production

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