Cast interview: Frances Mitchem-Diago

Opening night of The Grand Duke is almost upon us! We have one final cast interview before the first performance. Please welcome Frances Mitchem-Diago!

Name
Frances Mitchem-Diago

What's your role in The Grand Duke?
Bertha (one of the 4 girls)

What made you decide to get involved with The Grand Duke?
I just finished my master of music in vocal performance at George Mason University in Fairfax and a friend of mine had a good experience singing with VLOC in the past so I thought I'd audition and see what happened. I want to fill as much of my time as possible with music as I figure out what's next for me. Also, I sang Fairy Queen in Iolanthe my last semester at GMU last year and Katisha in Mikado with Capitol Hill Arts Workshop a few years ago and it was such a joy singing both of those roles that I knew another Gilbert & Sullivan production would be similarly uplifting. 

What are you enjoying most about working on The Grand Duke with VLOC?
Seeing and hearing all of the different styles of talented singers and all of their characters develop. The size of the chorus is exciting as well. Joe Sorge & Debbie Grossman are really good at keeping us all engaged and pushing us to go further. 

What is your dream role/job?
Carmen. I've done Carmen scenes before but it has definitely been a dream/goal to eventually sing the whole thing. I've been told by a couple of coaches/teachers along the way that I was "born" to play Carmen...we shall see. But beyond singing, a job behind the scenes in the arts management realm somewhere would be divine. Currently trying to find a way to do both! 

What is the first musical/opera/play you ever saw and what effect did it have on you?
My father took me to see Les Miserables when I was probably 9 or 10 and I just remember crying a lot, getting chills from the music & basically watching enraptured the entire time. I'm not a musical theatre person per se as much as I'm an opera person but the singing definitely reeled me in. 

When you're not performing in community theatre, what do you do? (job, hobby, family, etc.)
My day job is at a non-profit that provides students in Virginia with disabilities with different types of accessible learning materials. Outside of work- yoga, family, friends, music, laughter, love, & smoothies! 

Thank you, Frances! You can still get tickets to the 8/30 and 9/1 performances of The Grand Duke, and you can even get them for half price with the code DUKE50! Tickets are available online HERE or through the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre box office - call 240-314-8690. We hope to see you at one of the shows!

---