Flying high or low - Felix is loving Onegin

What or who got you interested theatre? Did you take part in any productions at school?

My father took me to see Sweeney Todd when I was eight years old and we sat in the front row, and I was blown over by the music, the story and the drama. It’s still my favourite musical, but opera is now what I am most interested in.

Are or were any members of your immediate family involved in drama?

My sister studied English with Drama and Theatre Studies at university. Growing up close in age we share a similar sense of humour and enjoy the same comedies, and we would often improvise characters for our own amusement at home in rural Kent.

Who is the most inspiring person you’ve worked with and why?

Bryn Terfel. I sang in the chorus for Fiddler on the Roof at Grange Park Opera (and the BBC Proms) when he played Tevye. Every night he did something different both with his singing and in his acting - he was also the sweetest person to work with. My singing teachers too - as they continue to inspire me and enable me to keep doing this crazy and sometimes scary thing being a singer, making things easier and giving me greater possibilities in the way I approach singing a role.

What formal training have you done?

I studied music with first study piano at the University of Manchester, then I began singing lessons in London and went on to study singing (postgraduate) at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. I still have singing lessons and also coachings on repertoire, characterisation and languages.

Do you have any specialist skills – anything from stilt walking to dress-making – which you work into your repertoire?

I taught myself to play jazz piano as a teenager so that’s my party trick I guess, any old jazz song or a bit of Scott Joplin.

Which experience/role do you regard as the highlight of your career to date?

This one (Onegin) has been pretty good - the music is so beautiful and romantic, and I get to play a bit of a nasty guy at the beginning but who is then emotionally broken by the end of the show (plus I got to have a poster of my face all over East London and on the tube which was pretty cool). Last summer I sang Masetto in Don Giovanni for British Youth Opera which was very different but he’s an angry violent man who keeps arguing with his wife to be (Zerlina) and then they make up, and argue again... but he also had a vulnerable side which was fun to play.

What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?

Recently my colleagues told me that I had performed the entire last act of the opera with my flies down... but it wasn’t until afterwards that I was embarrassed at least!

Which opera singers do you most admire and why?

Mainly for their beautiful voices and recordings which continue to inspire me but communicating through their singing, I have a few; John Shirley-Quirk, Benjamin Luxon, Norman Bailey, Alfreda Hodgson and Anthony Rolfe Johnson.

What role would you most like to play and why?

I guess one day I would like to play Don Giovanni, also Papageno (Magic Flute), and Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos) for a start. And maybe Sweeney Todd one day too.

Ever corpsed on stage? What happened?

Nearly! It’s always the worst when you’re not supposed to laugh and it’s even funnier. You just try to put yourself back into the character and concentrate on their thoughts rather than your own.

Any big plans for the future?

This summer I’m on the young artist programme at Opera Holland Park in London, singing the role of Marchese in Verdi’s La Traviata. I love singing art song too, so in October I’ll be in Suffolk at the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme singing German Lieder by Hugo Wolf.

Any tricks for remembering your lines or other useful tips to pass on to other actors/directors?

Keep going and working hard on your craft, focus on your own path and don’t be distracted by other people and what they are doing. We all have our own journey, and our own unique life experience and training to bring to our performances.