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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 14, 2003

Soprano steps up to 'The Magic Flute'

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

The prince (Justin Vickers) is surrounded by statues that come to life in Hawaii Opera Theatre's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute."

Photos by Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser


In the theater changing room, featured singer Lea Woods Friedman prepares for her role as Papagena.

'The Magic Flute'

8 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Blaisdell Concert Hall

$27-$95

596-7858

Were it not for her first voice teacher, who told Lea Woods Friedman she was a soprano suited for opera, she might have set her sights on becoming a pop diva. Maybe even musical theater.

"I had a high school internship and sang with the opera chorus," said Woods Friedman, now 27, who is performing the role of Papagena in Mozart's "The Magic Flute," the second of three Hawai'i Opera Theatre productions, opening tonight at Blaisdell Concert Hall.

She savored her experiences as a senior at Punahou School, when she had a small part in HOT's "Madame Butterfly." After she graduated in 1993, she was in the chorus of "Macbeth."

"My voice teacher Erik Haines said I should consider opera," said Woods Friedman. "At 15, I was ready for pop. I loved Whitney Houston. I still pretend I can sing her — but mostly in the shower. I was thinking the other day why I love opera so much, and I guess what sold me, what made me excited, was that it's such a team effort. You put on something great, but there are so many others involved: techies, costumers, and so on. As an audience member, you never know or experience what goes on backstage."

Since this is her first co-starring role, she notes, "Truly, this is my first real taste of the backstage excitement."

Clearly, Woods Friedman is one of a growing list of homegrown opera stars — including Quinn Kelsey, who has a role in the next HOT production, "La Bohéme" — trying to earn an identity to build for the future.

"I just love singing," she said. "I remember in my sophomore year at Punahou, I played Wendy in 'Peter Pan,' my first big role. It was kind of a fluke; I heard there was going to be a musical and I auditioned. And got the lead."

Though trained classically, she hasn't written off the Broadway musical genre yet. Last summer, she was part of a "Broadway Divas" concert with the Indianapolis Symphony and realizes "it's more feasible for me to do opera than Broadway for now. A Broadway career is nearly impossible. Besides, I want to give classical music a chance."

She did audition for Baz Luhrmann's celebrated Broadway production of Puccini's "La Bohéme," the first-ever ongoing opera on the Great White Way.

"I had a round of auditions, and I was told, 'Sing less, sing less.' This was Puccini, so how could you sing less? For me, it was a challenge to sing less," said Woods Friedman. "I'll keep belting it out. I'll see if I need to turn on a Broadway microphone for help." (Opera singers aren't miked the way Broadway singers are.)

She earned her stripes the unconventional way — "doing Italy for three years, ignoring competitions, doing some auditions, mostly trying to have fun to keep enjoying singing," she said.

"I was motivated to perform, trying not to get caught up in numbers," said Woods Friedman. So far, she's been fortunate, defying the odds.

"I was lucky to get into the Chautauqua Opera summer program, in upstate New York," she said. "The company puts on four opera productions in nine weeks; I was a studio artist last year and did recitals, sang in chorus parts, gaining incredible experience. I got a part in 'Don Giovanni,' and learned there were 600 applications for 26 slots, and of that number, only four to six sopranos are selected. Yet there were 450 soprano applicants. Basically, in the world of singing, sopranos are in abundance."

Papagena, she said, is "a tiny role but lots of fun, enabling me to use my acting skills," she said. "I play an old woman who reveals herself to Papageno (Leon Williams), and they sing a lovely duet together."

She loves the notion that acting is very much part of the operatic skills necessary to convincingly portray a role. "There's a lot more action on stage these days," she said. "Sure, it's lovely to enjoy a singing voice, hearing the instrument (the voice) and all its power, but these days, there's an emphasis on the total package, which means you have to throw in something."

The old adage about opera, "it ain't over till the fat lady sings," is toast.

"The fat lady has become skinny," said Woods Friedman. "One of my old excuses of eating all the plate lunches I can isn't going to cut it anymore. Modern audiences also want the visuals; you have to not only sound great, but look fit. That's the big part of opera — the spectacle, the look. It's no longer only vocal technique."