April 23, 2004

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

eveningsout

'Three Gay Tenors' praise opera's open atmosphere

by Richard M. Berrong

Cleveland-With the continued phenomenal success of the Three Tenors, the opera. world has taken to packaging tenors in threes. There are now the Three Irish Tenors, Three Mo' Tenors, Three Countertenors, etc. Given the fabled affinity of gay men for the lyric theater, it will therefore come as no surprise that Cleveland Opera's upcoming production of Offenbach's comic masterpiece The Tales of Hoffmann includes the city's own Three Gay Tenors: Michael Bragg, John Kassimatis, and Weldon Lee Gan.

Nor will it come as any surprise that when these three very verbal as well as

vocal artists

talked with a reporter, the conversation quickly turned to what it is like to be gay in opera. Being young and at the beginning of their careers, they were quick to point out that for gay opera singers themselves, act-

like

ing enters the pic-

Weldon Lee Gan

ture before they ever go on stage. Because they have no idea how accepting their audition interviewers will be, they all find that they begin to assume a persona, what Michael Bragg described as the generic heterosexual male, rather than risk losing a role.

Having said that, however, their very next words were: "That's the nice thing about singing with Cleveland Opera. We don't have to hide who we are here."

Each in turn then sang paeans about David and Carola Bamberger, the founders and directors of Cleveland Opera, who over the last twenty-eight years have built a company that, among its many notable successes, can count the fact that it is consistently singled out by both local and visiting gay artists for its open and accepting atmosphere.

As the three pointed out, this is a result of the climate that the Bambergers themselves create. They employ many gays and lesbians as staff as well as artists, and never expect them to hide who they are. (David Bamberger put the four of us out front in one of the State Theater's luxurious boxes for this interview, rather than in some hidden corner.)

Their accepting attitude, in turn, sets the tone for the rest of the company. John Kassimatis pointed out as an example that, while a majority of the men in the chorus are not gay and though they all have to work in close proximity in various states of dress and undress, none of the straight singers makes sexuality an issue. This allows the gay artists to give better performances, because, as Weldon Gan explained, they can focus on their art without having to worry about being discovered and mistreated.

This theme recurred repeatedly throughout the conversation. While they are openly gay and proud of who they are, all three tenors see their gayness as only part of themselves. They are also professional artists, proud of what they have achieved and intent on realizing their potential and training to the greatest possible extent in order to be fulfilled as musicians and human beings. This is why they sing the praises of the Bambergers: by creating a company in which a gay or lesbian individual is free to be open, the founders allow these artists to function to their potential on stage, without having to divert their acting skills to disguising part of who they are.

One can enjoy the talents of these Three Gay Tenors realized to the max April 23-

25 in Cleveland Opera's production of The Tales of Hoffmann. It is the story of a less enlightened tenor who pursues woman after woman with disastrous results without ever appreciating Nicklausse, the man with a woman's voice who remains faithfully beside him through everything. For tickets, call 800-766-6048.

Richard M. Berrong is a freelance writer living in Kent, Ohio.

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