Profile: Baritone Phillip Addis, Barber of Seville (Edmonton)

Catching up with Phillip Addis
Figaro in Edmonton Opera's Barber of Seville
by Sable Chan
@MissSable
(reprinted from The Choir Girl)

Metallic shelving units line the perimeter of the Jubilee Auditorium rehearsal hall. They are laden with props. A quick glance around the room reveals a barber’s chair in one corner. There is a side cart decorated with razors, combs, and a tall glass jar ready to disinfect any used combs. The stage manager helps me to clear a spot on the wooden prop vanity to interview Edmonton Opera’s leading man, Phillip Addis, playing Figaro in the Barber of Seville. Addis relaxes back in his seat with a sense of calm. He is no stranger to Principal roles having sung the title role in Pelléas et Mélisande with the Opéra Comique in Paris and Il Conte Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro with Pacific Opera Victoria earlier this year; however, this is Addis’ Figaro debut.

Review: (Vancouver) The Barber of Seville

Joshua Hopkins as Figaro, Sandra Piques Eddy as Rosina (photo credit: Tim Matheson.)

Lights, camera, Figaro!

Vancouver Opera seduces with Rossini

by Angela Descalzi

If you watched the Looney Tunes as a child, you will remember Bugs Bunny’s version of The Barber of Seville. That was my first ever encounter with Figaro and this comedic opera. It remained in my memory for years, up until last night, when for the first time, I went to see the Vancouver Opera’s production at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.