Don Mitchell
It is extremely satisfying to find a place where one can truly be himself. The Victorian Lyric Opera Company is that place where my Gilbert & Sullivan can run free. Before joining the chorus in the Mikado, I did not even know I had a G&S, but now I see it has been lurking inside me like a butterfly inside its chrysalis. During the last year opportunities for self-expression came as Guron in “Princess Ida” and the disreputable Justice of the Peace or horrific ancestor in “Ruddigore”; all these characters were good natured drunks as had been my fisherman in “Mikado”. A change in character came earlier this year as I performed the role of the Heavenly Friend in the MAD production of Carousel. Fooling no one with my attempt at purity, in this production of “The Elixir of Love”, I have once again found my true calling as a brave soldier and bucolic peasant.
The Mikado (2005 Chorus
Princess Ida (2006) Guron
Ruddigore (2007) Ancestor
THE ELIXIR OF LOVE Chorus