The Dangerous Business of Being an Opera Singer

In the old days, opera singers were expected to just "park and bark," as the static style of performing on stage is referred to within the business. But that’s a thing of the past. Singers now not only have look to like their characters, but also bound across raised platforms, fly through the air and undertake graphic fight scenes. With this growing emphasis on HD-quality realism, what physical skills must an opera singer have to make it today? Is opera becoming too dangerous?

Recent accidents in major opera houses have put a renewed focus on this question. In this podcast, we examine the question of physical risk-taking in opera with three experts:

Anne Midgette, the classical music critic of the Washington Post

Dale Girard, the director of stage combat studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts and a working stuntman

Laura Lee Everett, the artistic services director at Opera America, a service organization representing opera houses in the US