Alyson Cambridge plays Shakespeare’s Juliet through June 26
By Stephanie Covington
For the St. Louis American
The Opera Theater of St. Louis recently debuted an English-language production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet featuring a cast of outstanding singers and music from conductor Stephen Lord and the St. Louis Symphony. The opera presents a colorful, vivid display of costume design as well as a harmonious array of vocal talent.
The relationship between Romeo and Juliet is the focus of the opera, rather than the feud between the Montague and Capulet families. Explosive fight scenes are present, but do nothing to rival the love story at the center.
The leading lady of the show, Alyson Cambridge, wowed the crowd June 1 with her soprano range and stage presence in her role as Juliet. Cambridge appeared on stage at first as the soft-spoken lady of the Capulet house. However, by the end of the first act, Cambridge portrayed the strong presence of a determined woman in love.
Cambridge and co-star Frédéric Antoun acted out the passionate love of Romeo and Juliet comfortably and convincingly. At the conclusion of the tragic opera, audience members stood in standing ovation, especially exuberant when Cambridge stepped forward during curtain call.
In an interview with the American, Antoun said Cambridge is a natural singer and actress with a fun and professional attitude. He said Cambridge’s attention to detail and relaxed disposition has made working with her a pleasure.
“She has the greatest face that I’ve ever seen on stage,” Antoun said. “You can see every subtle expression she makes.”
As an African-American woman on the opera scene, Cambridge has conquered stereotypes and type casts in order to rise to the occasion of pursuing professional opera.
Cambridge, a native of Virginia, began her pursuit of music by learning the piano at age four. After imitating an opera singer as a joke when she was twelve, Cambridge was introduced to a voice instructor who was wary at first of accepting such a young student. After hearing her voice, the teacher accepted her as a pupil, and Cambridge began entering singing competitions.
Cambridge chose the Oberlin Conservatory over Julliard after completing high school because she wanted to maintain a reasonable amount of non-music related studies. Cambridge completed her education at Oberlin College with a bachelor’s of arts in sociology and a bachelor’s of music in voice performance.
She had planned to use her sociology background to pursue a law degree if her singing career did not take off.
After graduating from Oberlin in 2002, Cambridge went on to win the Metropolitan Opera National Audition for 2003, and the need for law school became obsolete. The prize, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Award, presented Cambridge with $15,000 in order to continue her education. Cambridge will start her third year in the Lindemann Young Artists Program at the Metropolitan Opera this fall.
Cambridge said she expects to be musically solid and in command of the words at the start of any production. For her role as Juliet, Cambridge studied the language of the period as well as Shakespeare’s original stage play.
She attributes a lot of the stage success and harmony to the fact that there are no egos in the cast of Romeo and Juliet. Both Cambridge and Antoun gave a lot of credit to stage director John Copley for making the production a unique and impressive experience. Copley offered the actors a lot of freedom with staging and other details. Cambridge said Copley taught them to remember the feelings and intentions behind their actions on stage and not simply attempt to duplicate them show after show.
As Juliet, Cambridge said she gets the opportunity to present herself as someone else on stage, which often comes easier to her than solo performances. However, she usually finds solo performances more intimate and enjoyable once the initial nervousness passes. During solo performances, without wigs and costumes, Cambridge is able to introduce a bit of her personality to the audience.
Cambridge has a support system of family that she said have been with her throughout her career, attending her shows and productions, no matter how small. Her mother, originally from a small town in Minnesota, first introduced Cambridge to opera. Cambridge said her father, a black man from Guiana, didn’t understand her interest in opera at the beginning of her young career, but now attends at least two productions of every show.
Over the years, Cambridge said she’s been approached with three different offers to record R &B music. She said a lot of the time, people she doesn’t even know tell her that she has sold out to a “white man’s profession.” Classical music, she said, can be enjoyed by all types of people.
“I want to prove those people wrong,” Cambridge said. “Opera is just as much for African-American people as it is for everybody else.”
She said she still looks forward to a day when opera will become color blind. African-American women in her position are often type cast for ethnic roles such as Aida or Porgy and Bess and not offered broader roles. Cambridge said she is lucky enough to be able to choose the roles she wants to pursue.
Women of color, she said, have an easier time in the opera profession than men. Having African-American men as leading tenors, she said, is a rare occurrence. She said African-American men are often given supporting roles as the father figure or wise elder.
Cambridge will debut as Clara in the Washington National Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess in October. Cambridge said she feels that she has proven her talent enough that taking the role will only enhance her experience, rather than place her in the category that some African-American women fall into as opera singers.
She said, “I want to sing with the best singers in the best opera houses in the world.”
Romeo and Juliet runs selected dates through June 26 at the Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Rd. in Webster Groves. Tickets cost $25 to $101. Call (314) 961-0644 or visit www.opera-stl.org.
