For immediate release
January 13, 2004

Ottawa auditions open for Alberta Scene opera Filumena

Filumena Supernumerary Auditions
Saturday, January 29 – 5:30 p.m. sharp to 6:30 p.m.
Fourth Avenue Baptist Church, Ottawa (corner of Fourth Avenue and Bank Street)
Bring a resume and photo

Ottawa-based performers are invited to attend auditions for supernumerary (non-singing) roles in the new Canadian opera Filumena, which will headline the Alberta Scene festival at the National Arts Centre on April 28 and 30. The auditions will start at 5:30 p.m. sharp at the Fourth Avenue Baptist Church at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Bank Street (enter at the Fourth Avenue door.

Auditioners will need to bring a photo and resume, and will have to be available for rehearsals (including evenings and weekends) between April 4 and 30. Stage director Kelly Robinson is specifically looking to cast children between the ages of six and 13, and able-bodied men and women. The auditions will be held in group sessions with Robinson in attendance.

Produced by The Banff Centre and presented with the National Arts Centre and Opera Lyra Ottawa, Filumena had its acclaimed debut in 2003 on the stage of Calgary Opera, with a second run that year at The Banff Centre. Composed by John Estacio, with libretto by John Murrell, the opera tells the tragic true story of Florence (Filumena) Lassandro, who married into a bootlegging family in Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass region during the prohibition era, and was convicted of murdering a provincial police constable. She was one of the last women hanged in Canada. The Alberta Scene production at the National Arts Centre will star Frédérique Vézina as Filumena, and Gaétan Laperrière as Emilio Picariello.

Following on the National Arts Centre’s popular Atlantic Scene festival in 2004, Alberta Scene will feature more than 600 established and emerging Alberta artists performing at more than 95 events in 19 venues across the National Capital region from April 28 to May 10.

For more information on Filumena auditions, contact Casey Prescott, program coordinator for Theatre Arts at The Banff Centre: (403) 762-6186; casey_prescott@banffcentre.ca.

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More information on Filumena and Alberta Scene.

Print-ready, downloadable photos from Filumena.