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Cosi Fan Tutte performances in full swing!

Raynes Park Tavern, Raynes Park

Our Cosi Fan Tutte performances are now well underway and we’re getting fantastic reactions both from audiences who’ve come along especially to see us and people who we’ve surprised while they’ve been doing the shopping or having a pint in the pub! So far we’ve had scenes popping up in Tooting, Pollards Hill, Raynes Park and Colliers Wood.

Tooting High Street

Who’d have thought you’d hear the Cosi opening trio of the boys making the bet to test their girlfriends whilst playing pool in the Raynes Park Tavern, or the girls deciding which disguised boy to flirt with in the jewellery section in Colliers Wood M&S? I think my personal favourite though was the boys singing their conversation about whether their girlfriends have cheated whilst coming down the escalator in the Qube shopping centre!

The hugest thanks to all the amazing businesses who’ve given us permission for performing in their stores – we really appreciate your help in bringing opera to everyone in Merton!  Read more

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Excited about singing in the supermarket? We ask our Cosi cast….

Cosi Fan Tutte Rehearsal

James, our Stage Manager, interviewed our singers and instrumentalists of the Cosi Fan Tutte Street opera in rehearsals this week…

What is your favourite opera or composer?

Tom Stoddart (Guglielmo):  “Favourite composer, Mahler, who never wrote any operas or Tchaikovsky. And my favourite opera is Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky.”

Simon Gfeller (Ferrando): “Favourite composer I think Mozart. But it’s generally the opera I’m doing at the moment as I fall in love really quickly with what I’m doing.”

Philip Smith (Don Alfonso): “La Bohème by Puccini would be my favourite opera quickly followed by quite a lot of Britten”

Claire Wild (Fiordiligi): “One of my favourite operas is Don Giovanni actually, Mozart. But I love La Bohème as well.” Read more

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Extra Cosi Fan Tutte date added!! Wimbledon Piazza Sunday 6th August

Due to popular demand, we are adding an additional performance of Cosi Fan Tutte at Wimbledon Piazza in the heart of Wimbledon. Last year the Wimbledon performance was really popular so do get there early if you want to catch us this year!

Performance Dates

DATES: 27th July – 6th August 2017
PRICE: FREE
STARTING LOCATIONS:
There were nine performance locations across the Merton borough.

Date Time Start Location
Thursday 27th July  5 pm TOOTING (starting at Gorringe Park Pub, SW17 9HW)
Friday 28th July  12.45pm POLLARDS HILL (starting at New Horizon Centre cafe, CR4 1LT)
Friday 28th July  5 pm RAYNES PARK (starting at the Raynes Park Tavern, SW20 0LA)
Wed 2nd August   1 pm COLLIERS WOOD (starting at M&S Cafe, Savacentre/The Qube, SW19 1DD)
Thurs 3rd August  1 pm MORDEN (starting on the forecourt outside the Civic Centre, SM4 5DX)
Thurs 3rd August  5 pm WIMBLEDON (starting at Patisserie Valerie, Wimbledon Piazza, SW19 1QB)
Friday 4th August  1 pm MITCHAM (starting at the Kings Arms, CR4 3HD)
Saturday 5th August  4 pm WIMBLEDON VILLAGE (starting at the Dog & Fox, SW19 5EA)
Sunday 6th August  3 pm WIMBLEDON (starting at Wimbledon Piazza, SW19 1QB)
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Do you think opera is for you?

Feedback from Bishop Gilpin School Opera workshop

Here at Baseless Fabric we are pretty passionate about giving everybody a chance to experience theatre and opera. Opera in particular is frequently seen as an art form that isn’t for ‘everyone’ and we truly believe it is and that everyone should have the chance to experience it. Luckily we have several wonderful funders who agree with this idea, including the brilliant Wimbledon Foundation who support charities in our home borough of Merton.

We were lucky enough to attend the exciting Wimbledon Championships this year and Artistic Director Joanna Turner was interviewed about the work that Baseless Fabric are doing to bring opera to new audiences and the opera workshops for young people and the elderly that Wimbledon Foundation have so kindly supported. Read more

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Cosi Fan Tutte Street Opera Performance Dates

Musicians playing during 'Drifting Dragons' (2016) street opera

Musicians playing during ‘Drifting Dragons’ (2016) street opera

It’s all coming together for Cosi Fan Tutte Street Opera! We’re super excited to announce our performance dates across the borough of Merton with the starting point in each area. The first scene will take place in the place mentioned below but we’ll shortly be moving on to the next local business for the next scene. So come prepared to follow the story along the high street with scenes taking place in a variety of different businesses with just a short walk in between.  We’ve got some crackers of places this year! It’ll be huge fun. 

Running time is about an hour but don’t forget, you’re free to stay for as long or as little as you like. So if you’ve never seen opera before but can only stay for 10mins just come watch the first scene – what have you got to lose?!  Read more

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Help us take opera to the high street!

Free Tea & Cake

We are looking for reliable, enthusiastic volunteers with an interest in theatre, music and community projects to help us create our Cosi Fan Tutte re-imagined for free on the high streets of Merton, South London.

No experience necessary – all training will be provided! Volunteers will get a sneak peek into our rehearsals and travel expenses covered on performance days. We also provide tea & cake! To find out further details please contact Artistic Director Joanna Turner.

Volunteers will get a sneak peek into our rehearsals and travel expenses covered on performance days. We also provide tea & cake! To find out further details please contact us!

Need more info? check out our Cosi Fan Tutte page.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Cosi Fan Tutte Cast Announced

We are delighted to announce our cast for the 2017 promenade performance of Cosi Fan Tutte:

The Cast

Claire Wild

Claire Wild – Fiordiligi

Claire Wild attended the Royal Northern College of Music‚ sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Musicians Benevolent Fund. She won the Webster Booth Award‚ the James Oncken Song Prize and the Frost Brownson Award.      

Highlights in recent seasons include Lilli Vanessi / Katharine in Kiss Me, Kate and Elle La voix humaine for Welsh National Opera, Susanna Le nozze di Figaro for Regents Opera and Petra in A Little Night Music for Opera Project at West Green House. Read more

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Probably not one for the opera purists!

Ok, first things first – ‘libretto’ is just the opera name for the words that the characters sing. I’d not written one before and now, for our upcoming production of Cosi Fan Tutte, I’ve tried my hand at this for the first time. It was quite hard! But really fun and exhilarating at the same time. And having worked as Assistant Director on Opera North’s production a few years ago, I knew this story inside out and so had very clear ideas about what I wanted to cut to make a shorter version (which bits of music though lovely don’t move the plot forward etc) and how I wanted to re-imagine this story for the modern world around us.

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Which Cosi character would you most like to go on a date with?

Did you miss out on seeing the R&D preview of our Cosi Fan Tutte Street Opera a couple of weeks ago? Well, do not fear, we asked our team a few quick questions so you could get to know them…

Which Cosi character would you most like to go on a date with?

Nick Morris (Guglielmo): Dorabella; she’d force me to try harder

Lisa Howarth (Fiordiligi): Ferrando, without a doubt. Obviously, I’m biased, but who could resist the tenor line in the tender, beautiful, amazing duet that sparks off ‘per pieta’? (Fiordiligi’s aria)

Simon Gfeller (Ferrando): Despina. She seems fun, intelligent, cunning and down to earth! We’d get along I think!

Olivia Jarvis (Violin): I couldn’t date any of them – they all have severe relationship issues…. Read more

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“I’d date Guglielmo if he was filled with marshmallows…”

Wow, running opera workshops for young people can be such fun – and so rewarding! We’ve just run a series of workshops at Merton primary, secondary schools and the fantastic Jigsaw4u as part of our Cosi Fan Tutte Street Opera project, funded by Wimbledon Foundation and it’s really been fantastic. Many of these children would not otherwise have an opportunity to access this art form, and some may not have previously known what opera was, but after a session with us they were confidently singing a Mozart love duet and giving us their best confident cocky Guglielmos and flirty coy Dorabellas!

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