Thomas got her cape so she could cover up, which didn't really fit into the story at that point. The entire dress had ripped off my back.”īundling the back of the dress up in one hand like a bustle, she continued to sing through the very difficult scene where she kills her attacker. “I hear this rrrrrrrip and then felt, whoosh. In a scene with the evil Scarpia, who is trying to seduce her, singer Todd Thomas accidentally stepped on the back of her dress. This is the fourth time she has portrayed the diva and Makerov is hoping there'll be no repeat of the dress disaster in Florida's Sarasota Opera Company. In fact, Julie Makerov, who is alternating in the principal role in Toronto with Adrianne Pieczonka from Jan. The lore about the various productions is as vibrant as the actual opera. In another, Tosca walked off at the end of the play, not feeling much like jumping that day.

In one production the lover Mario ended up being taken to hospital when he was shot by a blank that had too much powder. The onstage drama is one thing, but the opera singers who've portrayed Tosca have had a wig burst into flames, appeared at curtain call bleeding from the forehead after a fall, witnessed a group of extras accidentally “kill” themselves (by following Tosca off the balcony like lemmings) and been subjected to a practical joke that had the “dead” Tosca bounce back into audience view on a trampoline. The beautiful and pious Tosca - a churchgoing opera singer in Rome as the Napoleonic army advances - evades an evil seducer, kills her attacker, fights to save her lover from the firing squad and kills herself. Criticized by some for being “laden in schmaltz,” it is also madly popular with the public. The Puccini opera is a love story, political saga, morality tale, action drama and one of the best dang roles a soprano can snag in her career. Tosca is coming to town - brace yourself.

Tosca opera sarasota