Triple D Cabaret
Divas, Divos, & Drag
Sunday
Jun 12, 2022
7:30pm
Venue Baumann Centre
Cost $15-$25
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Featuring divas, divos, and drag, the Triple D Cabaret brings a showstopping lineup of bold performances to the Baumann Centre, designed to tug on your heart strings, tickle your funny bone, and shake up your senses from beginning to end.
Alex Chen is a baritone, collaborative pianist, and vocal coach whose curiosity brings fresh perspectives on a diverse body of musical works. In the words of his MMus mentor John Hess, he is “an immensely musical and sensitive player” with “a deeply inquisitive mind.”
Alex performs regularly as a singer and collaborative pianist in the Victoria music community, exploring genres such as art song, opera, and choral music. Moreover, as a faculty member at the Victoria Conservatory of Music he supports a wide variety of students and young professional singers from the piano. As a researcher, Alex held a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Scholarship to fund his work in dynamic art song programming.
Ez Sybom is a self-described force to be reckoned with, aiming to take the world by storm through the power of art, compassion, and great hair. He is a 17-year-old poet, playwright, drag queen, and sometimes actor, determined to both educate and allow a safe space for those who
might see themselves in his art. Selected credits include his first play, Waiting For Daisy being workshopped by Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary, Alberta; performing as part of Intrepid Theatre’s “HOMO: A Queer Cabaret”; and his poem And I Am being selected by Calgary’s poet laureate Natalie Meisner to be featured in her audio poem anthology.
Justin Fever is a queer, Métis drag king grateful to create on the traditional lands of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations in Victoria, BC. When not in drag, Justin / Nicole Malcolm is a wearer of many hats, with a passion for creating spaces and opportunities for artists, audiences, and community to find joy and good health through the shared moments of learning, exploration, and understanding that storytelling sparks. Recently celebrated as the University of Regina Theatre Department’s Distinguished Alumni for 2021, current artistic adventures include working as Director of Marketing & Communications for Pacific Opera Victoria; storyteller & improv / public speaking teacher with Paper Street Theatre co.; lighting designer on Isaiah Bell & Sean Guist’s The Book of My Shames; dramaturge for Dave Morris’ in-development improvised play 52 Stories; and playwright of an in-development fanciful folklore collection for city kids, featuring the storytelling/movement/puppetry piece When Lightening Strikes, originally conceived as part of Story Theatre and Impulse Theatre’s 2021 Wee Peeks showcase of new works. Justin is building a reputation for celebrating joy, love, silliness as Victoria’s manic-pixie-dream-uncle, here to make you wiggle, sway, and grin from ear-to-ear.
Chinese-Canadian, queer, and gender non-binary tenor Mike Zuming Fan | 范祖铭 (they) possesses a warm full lyric instrument with impressive power, agility, and range. Mike makes their Pacific Opera Victoria début as a 2021-2022 Young Artist in the Civic Engagement Quartet, filming a gender-bending digital recital Tā (她 / 他) as well appearances and performances in the Victoria community. Polymath and polyglot, Mike has performed in 10 languages for audiences across Canada, USA, Europe, and Australia. A passionate, committed, and innovative performer, Mike is strongly committed to social justice as the Artistic Director of Opéra Queens.
Montréal bass Simon Chalifoux will make his debut with Pacific Opera Victoria in the Civic Engagement Program. In 2016-2017, he was a member of Calgary Opera Emerging Artist Program. His debut with Edmonton Opera was in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro. His most recent performances were: Coline (La bohème), Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Sarastro (The Magic Flute), Harasta (Cunning Little Vixen).
Canadian tenor Tim Carter is a graduate student in music at the University of Victoria currently studying under Benjamin Butterfield. His debut performance with Pacific Opera Victoria is in the filmed production of Jake Heggie’s For a Look or a Touch. Tim began singing at age 21 after several years in university studying Psychology. Upon finding an interest in foreign languages through German courses, he switched programs into music. His previous love of classical music merged with a newfound love of languages, which set in motion a career shift toward becoming a singer. Having engaged in many new works and devised productions, Tim has a passion for showcasing modern narratives through the medium of opera. He believes that the strength of this genre lies in the ability to highlight modern issues through a sound world that evokes a passionate response from listeners.
Rebecca Gray is a soprano, composer and improviser based in Toronto passionate about performing and creating fresh, complex and inclusive new works. A graduate of the University of Toronto Opera School, she appeared as Donna Elvira in University of Toronto’s Don Giovanni (2017), performed the titular role in Prima Zombie: the diva that wouldn’t stay dead (2017) and premiered the lead in Pomegranate (2019) with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. She has performed with Esprit Orchestra, Tapestry Opera, Opera Q, FAWN, and has developed several chamber music recitals with her colleagues in the new music community. Rebecca’s compositions have been performed by musically diverse ensembles, including Ottawa’s 13 strings, the Capital Chamber Choir, and Ensemble Paramirabo. She has a particular interest in interdisciplinary work and has presented collaborative projects at Nuit Rose, the Montreal Contemporary Music Lab, the Toronto Creative Music lab, the Atlantic Music Festival, and the Banff Centre. She participated in the Canadian League of Composer’s PIVOT mentorship program, which will culminate in a choral performance by Pro Coro in Edmonton, and participated in Soundstreams’ Young Composer Workshop in 2021.
Countertenor Ryan McDonald is thrilled to be joining Pacific Opera Victoria’s Civic Engagement Quartet. A recent Encouragement Award winner from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition, Ryan McDonald has been seen on stage as Athamas in Handel’s Semele, First Witch and Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, L’enfant in Ravels L’enfant et les sortilèges, Cupid in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Jack in Sondheim’s Into the Woods.
Sean Guist is Artistic Director of Intrepid Theatre in Victoria, BC/Lekwungen Territory. Administrator by day and queer artist, producer and director by night, Sean is the founding Curator of Intrepid Theatre’s OUTstages queer theatre festival, and has created new residency programs for local artists, and fostered new work through cabarets, emerging artist programs, and mentorship opportunities. Guist is the co-creator and director of The Book of My Shames, a new queer opera composed and performed by Isaiah Bell, that has played at Tapestry Opera, Opera Kelowna and UNO Fest, and has upcoming engagements in 2022. Recent directing credits include readings of Sunday in Sodom (Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival), The Empress (Theatre Outre), Tom at the Farm (Puente Theatre) and productions of Side by Side Sondheim and Down Dangerous Passes Road (independent). Sean can be seen on drag stages as the bearded queen, Woofie, and has created queer events in non-traditional queer spaces like the sold-out drag show hit, Drag, Queers & Beers at Phillips Beer. Woofie is known for bringing big hair, big hips, and campy glamour to venues across the city, from stages to restaurants to parking lots!