So, has anyone seen this show and more importantly heard/met the supposed 'castrato' Dov Houle? I've googled him and cannot find any information other than the director saying he's hairless.
They are billing this guy as a castrato and in light of the puberphonia posts on the Health Forum, I've got to wonder. I told the girl I work with who saw the show that he's probably a countertenor, but she was insistent.
TA: You are the master of all things operatic with a touch of the lurid thrown in...any info on this?
Someone named Dov Houle, and I can't imagine that there would be more than one, had a bar mitzvah at a Toronto synagogue May 27, 2006. And since the director says in his blog that he met Dov in Winnipeg, I would guess it's the same kid. He's 14.
"So little time; so little to do."
-- Oscar Levant
[edited to fix grammar]
This message has been edited by CarminaPirhana on May 17, 2007 1:40 PM
...hahahahahaha. sorry. its just that I happen to know the voice of this particular performer and the overall production itself. And...well...hahahahahaha. : )
Google can't help you.
This message has been edited by ELJ on May 17, 2007 5:01 PM
I couldn't help but get a kick out of the "buzz" that the "castrato" has caused...
Here is the story:
Guy Maddin (google him), and Jason Staczek (the composer of the film score), created the character of the Manitoba Meadowlark- a male castrato. Dove is actually played by an actor (Dan Tierney) who is lip-synching to what was originally conceived in the score as a boy soprano's voice. And no, not a fourteen-year-old-recently-Bar-Mitzvah'd kid from Toronto. For the New York run of the live sound performances (Brand Upon the Brain will be playing at the Angelika and Lincoln Square with the recorded soundtrack- where I think Dove's voice is actually a child), the voice of Dove was actually performed by a female singer (one of which was myself). Ensemble Sospezo provided the music, and Foley Artists performed the sound effects.
It's a joke. Chill out. There are no living castrati.
btw: as previously stated in her post, elj is a friend of mine and I am using her account to post the scoop.
I couldn't keep arguing to my coworker that she was wrong. After giving her the history of castrati, when the last castrato passed away, and the popularity of countertenors in the last 10 years, she still wouldn't believe me. So, after she kept insisting I told her I would google it and if I couldn't find it I'd ask all of you.
And as predicted, the Forum knew the answer. And the actor with lipsyncer is just the thing I was looking for. Would it have been cool if it was a singer who had puberphonia but was making a career of it? Or a 14 year old boy putting on a show? Sure, but I was trying to get the real answer.
Cool that you were involved in it. It sounds like a very cool production from all I've read about it. Good for you. Thanks for the info.
