Life and Leisure

Small part, but great experience

By Zhang Kun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-10 13:59

Li Zhiyun, a 50-year-old engineer, is ready for a small role that he applied for in the Italian opera La Boheme, presented by the visiting company Teatro Regio. Photos by Yong Kai / China Daily

Angela McClure, an expat from the United States, prepares for a role on stage. She was among the 200 applicants for the 11 extra roles.

A call for extras to perform in the opera La Boheme, in Shanghai, attracted 200 applicants and gave 11 extras the chance to shine. Zhang Kun reports

Angela McClure was browsing a lifestyle magazine to check out what was going on that week when she came across an article asking for people to audition for a small part in the Italian opera La Boheme, in Shanghai.

The advertisement drew nearly 200 applicants for the 11 roles, and seven Chinese and four foreigners were chosen.

At the end of last week, for two nights, McClure and 10 other opera lovers joined singers from Turin on the stage of the Shanghai Grand Theater (SGT) for the opera performance.

They wooed the heroine, sold flowers, served food and played the role of a drunk.

Zhang Zhe, director of SGT, says the visiting opera company Teatro Regio requested 11 extras.

"Usually when we receive such requests, we ask actors from the Shanghai Opera House to help, but this time we wanted to try get the public involved - it turned out to be a wonderful idea," Zhang says.

McClure played the role of a flower girl. She says she studied ballet as a child but hadn't performed as an adult, so this was a great opportunity.

"I don't think I'll seek a career in acting, so this experience is all the more precious," says McClure, a 30-year-old from San Francisco who studied art at university.

"It's a once in a lifetime experience to take part in such a great production at a beautiful venue like the Shanghai Grand Theater," she says.

"I think opera is one of the finest arts of our time and I've always been intrigued about it," says 26-year-old Yves Cervantes from Mexico, who has lived in Shanghai for six months.

"I read about La Boheme before - a heartbreaking story - and I know it's a classic and one of the most frequently performed operas," he says, explaining why he applied for the extra role.

"I saw the ad on the Shanghai Grand Theater website and rushed to make my application," says Li Zhiyun. "I remember when the Genoa Opera House put on La Boheme at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 1986, the show was broadcast live - for the first time in China.

"When (Luciano) Pavarotti sang the famous aria What a Cold Little Hand, I was completely overwhelmed. Even now the memory is vivid in my heart," Li says.

The 50-year-old engineer, had to flirt with women on stage, act as if he was drunk and have a cake in his face, for his parts.

"We just followed the instructions of the director, Vittorio Borrelli," he says.

This is the first time Teatro Regio has come to China. The theater company is from Turin, Italy, where La Boheme premiered in 1896.

Encouraged by the positive response from the public, SGT will recruit more extras for its performance of The Ring of the Nibelung, in September.

Extras aren't paid a wage but get tickets worth 800 yuan. McClure's father, who works in Nanjing, saw the show last week.

"I enjoyed the experience very much," says Li, the engineer. "If given the chance, I'd surely want to do it again - I'd love to be an extra for The Ring of the Nibelung!"