Where all the men were women and all the women were men
Why did we put on a cross-dressing concert? First, it was hilarious! Secondly, it was a chance for singers to explore music outside their normal repertoire. While singers have an enormous selection from which to choose, they are limited by songs that are distinctly gendered. Crossover was our chance to sing that song that we love, that one we belt out in the shower, but could never perform to an audience because it was written for the opposite sex.
We saw sopranos become tenors and bass-baritones become mezzo sopranos. We heard many songs we know and love, but sung in an entirely different register, and perhaps slightly hammed up.
Opera is a lot of things — tragic, funny, dirty, dramatic, politically incorrect or a combination of them all. Even though it's performed in foreign languages and trotted out in posh venues for audiences dressed to the nines, opera is not 'serious business.'
The organising (plotting) committee were Tanuja Doss, Leila Fetter and Madeleine Rowland.
If you want to know who we are — The Mikado : Ladies' Chorus
The sun whose rays — The Mikado : Peter Smith
A hymn to him — My Fair Lady : Gemma Dashwood
On the street where you live — My Fair Lady : Rachel Parsons
Luck be a lady — Guys and Dolls : Madeleine Rowland
Oh, lady be good — Lady, be Good! : Denise Manley
I feel pretty — West Side Story : Stephen Hines
Au fond du temple saint — The Pearlfishers : Gemma Dashwood and Tanuja Doss
Ol'Man River — Showboat : Leila Fetter
I'm just a girl who cain't say no — Oklahoma! : Chris McNee
Say goodbye, now — The Marriage of Figaro : Rachel Parsons
Nessun dorma — Turandot : Judith Swanson
La donna e mobile — Rigoletto : Madeleine Rowland
I dreamed a dream — Les Miserables : Stephen Hines
She's funny that way — I Got a Woman Crazy for Me : Denise Manley
She's my girl — The Remains of Tom Lehrer : Alison Knight
I'm called little Buttercup — HMS Pinafore : Chris McNee
The catalogue aria — Don Giovanni : Tanuja Doss
O foolish Fay! — lolanthe : Peter Smith
The music of the night — The Phantom of the Opera : Judith Swanson
The revenge aria — The Marriage of Figaro : Lelia Fetter
I am the Pirate King — Pirates of Penzance : Alison Knight
There is nothing like a dame — South Pacific : Ladies' Chorus
Crossover
Thursday 22nd and 24th June 2010Why did we put on a cross-dressing concert? First, it was hilarious! Secondly, it was a chance for singers to explore music outside their normal repertoire. While singers have an enormous selection from which to choose, they are limited by songs that are distinctly gendered. Crossover was our chance to sing that song that we love, that one we belt out in the shower, but could never perform to an audience because it was written for the opposite sex.
We saw sopranos become tenors and bass-baritones become mezzo sopranos. We heard many songs we know and love, but sung in an entirely different register, and perhaps slightly hammed up.
Opera is a lot of things — tragic, funny, dirty, dramatic, politically incorrect or a combination of them all. Even though it's performed in foreign languages and trotted out in posh venues for audiences dressed to the nines, opera is not 'serious business.'
The organising (plotting) committee were Tanuja Doss, Leila Fetter and Madeleine Rowland.
Program
Singing accompanied by Terry Lam (Piano) and Allan Pennicook (Percussion)If you want to know who we are — The Mikado : Ladies' Chorus
The sun whose rays — The Mikado : Peter Smith
A hymn to him — My Fair Lady : Gemma Dashwood
On the street where you live — My Fair Lady : Rachel Parsons
Luck be a lady — Guys and Dolls : Madeleine Rowland
Oh, lady be good — Lady, be Good! : Denise Manley
I feel pretty — West Side Story : Stephen Hines
Au fond du temple saint — The Pearlfishers : Gemma Dashwood and Tanuja Doss
Ol'Man River — Showboat : Leila Fetter
I'm just a girl who cain't say no — Oklahoma! : Chris McNee
Say goodbye, now — The Marriage of Figaro : Rachel Parsons
Nessun dorma — Turandot : Judith Swanson
La donna e mobile — Rigoletto : Madeleine Rowland
I dreamed a dream — Les Miserables : Stephen Hines
She's funny that way — I Got a Woman Crazy for Me : Denise Manley
She's my girl — The Remains of Tom Lehrer : Alison Knight
I'm called little Buttercup — HMS Pinafore : Chris McNee
The catalogue aria — Don Giovanni : Tanuja Doss
O foolish Fay! — lolanthe : Peter Smith
The music of the night — The Phantom of the Opera : Judith Swanson
The revenge aria — The Marriage of Figaro : Lelia Fetter
I am the Pirate King — Pirates of Penzance : Alison Knight
There is nothing like a dame — South Pacific : Ladies' Chorus