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Operatunity

Type: TV - Series or strand
Released: 2002
Length: 50 min.
Directed by: Michael Waldman

Crew

Editor Sean Mackenzie

Production Company Diverse Productions

Full credits (Main credits only)

Themes

Status

  • Broadcast within UK

Synopsis:

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In January 2002, English National Opera took on a challenge: To conduct a nation-wide search and find someone with no operatic experience who could be coached to sing in the opera Rigoletto on the stage of the London Coliseum, side by side with world-class performers. The result is Operatunity - a unique series for Channel 4, produced and directed by Michael Waldman (maker of The House, the celebrated and controversial series about the Royal Opera House).

This award winning four-part series follows the singers through this risky experiment. Participants include a builder with a passion for Puccini, a supermarket assistant who is a mother of four, a former chef, a Transylvanian pig farmer and a club singer. This unique series captures the excitement, the joy, the tears and the traumas experienced by applicants and judges alike as they all enter uncharted territory that climaxes with a live performance on the stage of the Coliseum.

Awards

The PRIX ITALIA Award. Best Arts Documentary
RTS Programme Award. Arts
Broadcast Award. Best Documentary Series
Royal Philharmonic Society Award
BAFTA Award. Best Sound Factual

BAFTA Nomination. Best Factual Series
Grierson Nomination. Best Arts Documentary

Synopsis:
In January 2002, English National Opera took on a challenge: To conduct a nation-wide search and find someone with no operatic experience who could be coached to sing in the opera Rigoletto on the stage of the London Coliseum, side by side with world-class performers. The result is Operatunity - a unique series for Channel 4, produced and directed by Michael Waldman (maker of The House, the celebrated and controversial series about the Royal Opera House).

This award winning four-part series follows the singers through this risky experiment. Participants include a builder with a passion for Puccini, a supermarket assistant who is a mother of four, a former chef, a Transylvanian pig farmer and a club singer. This unique series captures the excitement, the joy, the tears and the traumas experienced by applicants and judges alike as they all enter uncharted territory that climaxes with a live performance on the stage of the Coliseum.
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