Rising Star
Interview: Emma Juhasz OPERA SENSATION ALFIE BOE FACES AN EXCITING YEAR, WITH PERFORMANCES IN ENO’S THE MERRY WIDOW AND ELEKTRA AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE What got you interested in music? I come from a really musical family. I always remember my father singing around the house – he loved opera and old 1940s’ songs. [...]
Interview: Emma Juhasz
OPERA SENSATION ALFIE BOE FACES AN EXCITING
YEAR, WITH PERFORMANCES IN ENO’S THE MERRY
WIDOW AND ELEKTRA AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
What got you interested in music?
I come from a really musical family. I always
remember my father singing around the house
– he loved opera and old 1940s’ songs. I learnt
some bad habits from him, though, as he’d get
so far into a song, forget the words and then
make them up – I do the same now!
What was your first performance?
I did a clog dance on the patio of my house in
a flat cap and a cane when I was four. But my
first real performance was singing in the chorus
of an amateur dramatics group when I was 14
– I was kicked out for fooling about on stage.
It doesn’t sound like you were heading
for Broadway back then…
Not really. I packed in performing for a long
time. I left school at 15 and I started working
as an apprentice in a car factory in Blackpool.
What made you change your mind?
I remember the day vividly. I was 19 and biking
to work when I was suddenly overwhelmed
with this urge to get back on stage.
How did you start your singing career?
I joined an amateur operatic company and got the
lead in West Side Story. It inspired me to take up
singing professionally. Then a customer overheard
me singing at the garage and told me about
D’Oyly Carte Opera Company auditions in London.
Did this help you become a full-time singer?
Absolutely. I got into the chorus, toured for
10 months and I’ve never looked back. I startedtraining with the Scottish National Opera and
Glyndebourne. Then Baz Luhrmann [Moulin Rouge
director] called me and everything changed.
How did Baz Luhrmann help your career?
He’d seen me in Glyndebourne’s La Bohème and he
wanted me to audition for his Broadway version of
this opera. I got the job, so I was off to New York.
Was working with him glamorous?
Luhrmann is so well-connected that every
premiere was full of A-list stars – I even got to
play Leonardo DiCaprio at pool. I won! Bizarrely it
was the actor Danny DeVito who helped me keep
my head though, as by the end of the run I was in
meetings with studios in LA and he advised me
not to give up the singing. He was absolutely right.
How did you cope when La Bohème finished?
I loved performing on Broadway, but I really
wanted to record a solo album. It took me a long
time to persuade a record company to let me do
one. In fact I offered my new album, La Passione,
to EMI 12 years ago, so it’s really exciting to see
that finally come to fruition.
What comes next for you?
Various performances are lined up, including Elektra
at the Royal Opera House and The Merry Widow at
the English National Opera (ENO), in Covent
Garden, London, so it’s an exciting year ahead.
La Passione by Alfie Boe is out now on EMI.
Visit www.alfieboe.com
for details of his forthcoming performance dates.
CLASSICAL HIT:ALFIE’S CV
Alfie Boe, 34, was born in Blackpool and
grew up in Fleetwood, Lancashire. He
studied at many of the UK’s top opera
institutions, including the Royal College Of
Music and the Royal Opera House. His first
big break was in La Bohème at Glyndebourne
in 2000, and three years later he won a Tony
Award for his performance in Baz
Luhrmann’s La Bohème. He has gone on to
record three solo albums, including Onward
which topped the classical chart
