Fast Times in Seville is a new version of Carmen, coming Friday November 13th.
Cursed in Mantua adapts Rigoletto the next night, Saturday November 14th.

Both shows are fundraisers in support of Benevolence Opera Project (aka “BOP”), a new organization, dedicated to combining high-quality opera productions with community engagement and support for meaningful causes. They’re offering a two-show deal, giving you a discount when you purchase tickets for both shows.

Holly Chaplin is taking on multiple roles, not just singing but much more. I wanted to ask her about the shows.

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BB:As I recall you produced & directed the pastiche concert “Hello, goodbye” back in May of this year that included music from La boheme, la traviata and L’elisir d’amore.

“We watched fatal love between Verdi’s Violetta & Alfredo and Puccini’s Mimi & Rodolfo before finding our way to happily ever after with Donizetti’s Adina and Nemorino in Elixir of Love.”

Besides singing, what did you do on that occasion?

Holly Chaplin: I think the question should be more like ‘What did I not do?” ha! The short answer to that is SLEEP.

Producing is not for the weak. It’s quite a beast on its own since all of it is based on your time management skills, what you’re willing to invest and your drive to make it all happen!

For Hello/Goodbye, I knew I wanted to sing juicy duets/scenes and arias with Ernesto Ramirez.

BB: I don’t blame you. He’s amazing..!

Holly Chaplin: What I didn’t want to do was a traditional recital.

So I wrote a hallmark-esque play to connect the three operas and their respective scenes. I love writing and theatre so the actual product(as in the script and score) was the easiest part of the production process…one of which took up more than 10 hours of my life!

BB: Wow, . I wrote this in response to the show:
“Hello Goodbye” was an original play narrated by Ryan Hofman, contrived to contain the romantic arias & duets between characters in la traviata, la boheme and elisir d’amore. I was reminded of Mamma Mia, a play that’s just a loose pretense to set up our favourite tunes, although this time it was Puccini, Verdi & Donizetti, not ABBA.“

So on top of everything else you wrote the play… Very impressive! You seem to be having fun with all these different tasks you undertake.

Holly Chaplin: There was designing posters, shooting a promo video/all the joys of video editing, buying ads with Meta, collecting props/set pieces, creating surtitles, logistics of moving everything to the space, lighting design/rentals, calling in every favour, inviting everyone I know…also rehearsing and staging the show. It’s a tonne of work!

Producing by itself is a lot like child birth. To see your idea come to life is amazing…You just need to forget how hard the process was to make your show happen to ever want to do it again.

Luckily, Ryan is taking a lot off my plate this time ‘round.

Holly Chaplin: Just having to direct my piece is exciting, and getting to sing Gilda again…is it Christmas?

BB: Aha, but did you forget how hard the process is? It seems like you’re willing to do it again. Tell me more about your version of Carmen.

Holly Chaplin: So BOP’s Carmen, which I am calling Fast Times in Seville, is quite a different take on Carmen..hence why I have changed the name. The musical numbers are from Carmen but the play connecting these numbers was written by yours truly.

BB: What is the concept behind that title “Fast Times in Seville“?

Holly Chaplin: My adaptation is more like American Idol meets Jerry Springer—Fast Times in Seville is set as a televised singing competition where ambition, celebrity, and messy personal lives collide spectacularly. Carmen is the most performed opera on the planet. Indie companies can’t afford to create 19th century Seville well, so why not make a TV studio our world? I wanted to explore Carmen’s outsider status through her ambition and refusal to be controlled, rather than perpetuating the original’s problematic associations between Roma identity and criminality. My Fast Times in Seville is full of big personalities, public humiliation, and backstage drama, where everyone has an agenda and the line between entertainment and real-life tragedy gets dangerously thin.

BB: You sang your first Micaela recently out west somewhere with Julie Nesrallah as Carmen. What was that like?

Holly Chaplin: My week in Saskatoon was an absolute blast! I loved my Carmen on Tap cast—we had the best time. Our production took place right among the patrons and staff of Saskatoon’s Bacchus Lounge, with Trevor Chartrand at the keys, phrasing every line beautifully.

Seriously, he’s a dream to make music with!

I really like Micaela; she feels wonderful vocally, and it was so much fun to sing opposite Richard Troxell as Don José. He’s spectacular, and having someone of his calibre to work with while mounting the role professionally for the first time was a real gift. I mean, the man has sung at the Met!

Julie and Richard embody their roles so beautifully, and they’re both such generous musicians and actors that they make it easy to create our own little Seville in Saskatoon.

Julie is salt of the earth and an incredibly hard worker who inspires everyone she encounters. She took a chance on me back in 2016, casting me as Frasquita in her production at Lula Lounge. I’m so grateful that it led to such a lasting connection and friendship— that production really helped kickstart my career.

BB: Who’s singing in Fast Times in Seville?

Holly Chaplin: Here are the victims of my creativity and how you can expect to see their characters turn up in Fast Times in Seville.

Alex Beley is our Carmen; a fame hungry wannabe Lady Gaga competing to win the singing competition/reality show Fast Times in Seville.

Adam Luther is our Don Jose; a risk taking producer on the show.

Escamillo will be sung by Jonathan Kirby. Our Escamillo is competing to win and is a Harry Stiles personality in this show.

Micaela will be a Christian country singer who wants to represent all that is good and decent…who is also a competitor in the show, portrayed by Angela Gjurichanin.

Remendado (Cameron Mazzei) and Dancaïro (Sebastian Belcourt) will be our camera and boom mic operators.

Frasquita(Daniella Agostino) and Mercedes(Anjelique Croteau) will be back up singers/dancers.

Ryan Hofman will be our version of Ryan Seacrest…

And Brahm Goldhamer will be our orchestra at the piano.

BB: November 14th you’re in Cursed in Mantua, singing Gilda. Tell us more about the show, its concept, who’s directing and so on.

Holly Chaplin: Cursed in Mantua was born out of the cast’s collective love of HBO’s The Sopranos. Think late ’90s/early 2000s New Jersey, with Mantua serving as our very own Bada Bing—the beloved local institution for drinks, entertainment, and escorts. We’ll have Narmina at the piano.

Holly Chaplin: And in a true mob-style power-sharing arrangement, we’re all directing this one!

Holly Chaplin: Our cast features Andrew Tees as Rigoletto, me as Gilda, Adam Luther as the Duke, Cameron Mazzei as Borsa, Sebastian Belcourt as Marullo, Luke Noftall as Monterone and Sparafucile, and Anjelique Croteau as Maddalena and Giovanna.

This will be my second time singing Rigoletto with Andrew, who always plays my brother/dad/friend in various Opera York productions. At this point, we’re practically family. He’s kinda awesome!

And we may or may not be serving gabagool.

BB: aha! Google tells me that’s capicola or capocollo. And a picture.

Hmm sounds delicious!

Holly Chaplin: Thank you for the opportunity to share these concepts with the world—and give everyone a little glimpse into what goes on in my head at 3 a.m.!

I’m so grateful to Toronto’s opera community, my dear colleagues, friends, and family. This art form is wack at the best of times, but the people I get to make it with, and the people who show up to experience it, make all the madness worthwhile. ❤️

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Carmen and Rigoletto will be presented by Benevolence Opera Project at the Redwood Theatre November 13th & 14th. For tickets & information click here.