Carmen...or never work with animals, children or dancers

My next production is Carmen at the Sydney Opera House in January. It's coming up fast. I play Escamillo, the bull-fighter and I have a few scenes where I have to dance.

Many people won't know that I actually did a year of dance lessons. I took myself off many, many years ago to a jazz class for a year in my home town of Christchurch. And when I was covering Danilo in The Merry Widow in San Francisco I also got private dance lessons for about four or five months, learning how to waltz properly.

But no. Dancing is not my forte. As many will tell you.

So with my next role involving quite a bit of dancing, I'm up in the rehearsal studios. Luckily, the director for Carmen, Matthew Barclay, actually trained as a dancer, and he's getting started on my dancing early. Probably wise.

I'm also working on getting Escamillo's music back into my body. Even though I've done it 50 or 60 times it still takes a while to get the sound you want back into your vocal chords.

I use a vocal coach wherever I'm working. You need someone outside of your head, because you can get carried away and be singing away, thinking you sound fantastic, but the coach is sitting there shaking their head and saying "Jeez, Teddy…"

It's great being in Melbourne as I work with a mate of mine, Tahu Matheson, one of the vocal coaches on the Opera Australia music staff. He's an awesome musician.  We have a laugh as Tahu is 10 years younger than me but is telling me what does and doesn't sound good! Actually, the best thing is that we collaborate. We both have an input which is a great way to work. Hopefully we learn something from each other.

The other big challenge in this production is Escamillo's dramatic entrance on a big black horse. But apparently Rinat Shaham, who plays Carmen, is allergic to horses, and we don't want to completely sabotage her voice, so I'm off the hook!

I have to admit I look pretty average on a horse. I had lessons, and I have actually ridden a horse in a in a big outdoor arena production of Carmen in Christchurch. It was in a huge football field, and we had Mark Todd, the New Zealand Olympian horse-riding champion, leading on a parade of horses at the start of the opera. It was an amazing experience, with big thoroughbreds riding through the stadium.

With an allergic Carmen, I think the Escamillo's black stallion is cut for the first run of performances but I have been told that the horse will be back for all performances after 19 February.


Image: from Opera Australia's 2008 season of Carmen at the Sydney Opera House