11 Ways To Add LGBTQ+ Representation to Your Next Opera Production

[@emmynoether9540]

7:30 I love this point! I have a low voice range for a woman and in school I secretely sang with the tenors, because that was more comfortable. I eventually learned how to sing higher but I still enjoy singing high pop songs in a lower octave with my soprano friends. It adds a nice touch. Would love to hear this on stage.

[@LiftOperator52]

Same. I sang with the tenors and could still sing with the sopranos. As I have gotten older my vocal range has shifted lower.

[@SewBiased]

The cuddle puddle was awesome! And I'm so here for playing a female Cherubino that flirts endlessly with the entire household! 🏳️‍🌈

[@robinhahnsopran]

That would be a JOY to see!

[@livrowland171]

ISome great ideas :-) I'm a trans woman and lyric contralto, I'm nearly 50 and have only now really realised my voice can be effective in things like Carmen and Dahlila,... When I was a youngster I was told I was tenor and tried that for years and it just tired my throat and I wasn't any good, then I tried being a countertenor and singing baroque which was better but I still felt I wasn't quite using my voice to its best, and since I transitioned, also a bit late in life, I work on a more womanly sound, and my voice is still getting better. Wish I had got started with both earlier... Hey ho. But I think better representation for LGBTQ people generally is a good thing for people coming out earlier and finding themselves quicker without all that messing about... I sing in concerts locally where I live, but have not performed in a whole opera. I doubt also that someone would cast me in the roles I like to sing...! Maybe if I could start again at age 20... Never mind, I try to enjoy my singing anyway.

[@lindsaygillis6812]

This was such a great video, Robin! Thanks for sharing all of these ideas. I didn’t know much about the historical precedent of dropping/raising the octave for roles and I’m so glad you mentioned it. I look forward to hearing more of your ideas about LGBTQ+ representation in opera 😊

[@robinhahnsopran]

So glad you liked it! There's lots of historical precedent that doesn't get taught in schools, I find. Loads more on this to come! :)

[@ReinaElizondo]

Love this! Fantastic ideas! I want to see all of these in action. I've heard of an all female musical theater troupe in Japan, Takarazuka Revue. My brain immediately went to lgbt stories! Of course Japanese theater troupes had a history of being all male, so it isn't really a direct link to anything lgbt, but it made my heart happy anyway.

[@robinhahnsopran]

That sounds wonderful! :D The more companies emerging in performing art forms that exist to challenge gender norms, the happier I am! :D

[@kagitsune]

Takarazuka loves to lean into the queer undercurrent of their cast! But their equivalent in Osaka, the OSK Revue, is *very* queer!

[@ReinaElizondo]

@@kagitsune That's awesome to know! Thanks for the info. I hope I get the chance to go to both someday.

[@kagitsune]

@@ReinaElizondo Me too. Bucket list dream, for sure 😊💖

[@roxanakatz2742]

I feel like you can find a lot of queer subtext in operas if you squint hard enough. The Pearl Fishers duet is perhaps one of the more notable examples. Also, I've always been intrigued by this line in The Telephone: "I told them what you told me you had heard about him and Joe."

[@TheMassie97]

Hello, Robin: I hope you are doing well. A fellow opera and musical theater lover, as well as a person with a disability, I appreciate your operatic accessibility videos; in fact, much of this information is something that I wish presented itself when I began my exposure to classical music at just seven years of age. Three of my favorite operas include La fille du régiment, Tales of Hoffman, Carmen, and Tosca. If I may ask, why are there no videos of you singing? Best regards, Cole

[@BigSamStudio]

Awesome stuff Robin! Lovely channel, great voice and editing!!! Keep up the awesome stuff, respect!

[@robinhahnsopran]

Thank you so much! :) Loads more to come!

[@kagitsune]

I've always read Figaro as bisexual. 😁 And Rosalina was originally written for a contralto, I think! Options! And my fave production of Rossini's "Le Comt Ory" is *extremely* polyam, haha! 😁

[@kagitsune]

Also WOW you actually made Così watchable... Ahem, better 😍 We are compelled to stan

[@Bacchanale100]

Would like to listen your opinión about: tenors or baritones singing countertenor roles ( on the octave low) it is not drag because i am speaking about masculine roles.

[@andrewdewade]

I love what you're putting into the world, Robin! This was great!

[@robinhahnsopran]

I'm so glad you like it! I want to create more joyful spaces to express love for the art form but also ways to make it better. :)

[@emmynoether9540]

May I say that a 3:16 minute intro is bit too long for my taste?

[@colonelsho]

YES YES YES I am here for ALL of this.

[@robinhahnsopran]

💗 💗 💗

[@UnDead483]

#9, thank you! Amen! Also if anyone gives you any trouble over this vid, send them to me. I'll be happy to sort them out!

[@robinhahnsopran]

I sent them right to the deleted-comment, reported-to-KZbin pile! :D

[@emmynoether9540]

Yes! Rowan's channel is great!

[@peppapig9204]

As a bisexual transmasc soprano... yes

[@emmynoether9540]

Hey, lovely new channel. :)

[@princekrazie]

As a LGBT person, I think polyamory should not be part of the LGBT spectrum. I don’t think it’s a sexuality or a gender.

[@1999BizarreSummer]

what this is such a random and stupid thing from what i understand opera to be it would be literally impossible to add lgbtq+ representation to it but i know nothing of opera or why anyone would want to add lgbtq representation to it or why there would be enough people making opera productions for this video to get views