The Brazilian actor Douglas Tholedo 38, part of the cast of “Aida” in Metropolitan Opera House of New York . The season began on December 31st and continues until May 9th, which will be directed for the first time by Michael Meyer — winner of a Tony Award for best direction for editing “Spring Awakening”.
Before arriving on one of the most important stages in the world, the Minas Gerais native from Juiz de Fora shone on the São Paulo musical circuit. He has been in major productions such as “The Phantom of the Opera” , “Les Misérables” , “Hamilton” and “Change of Habit” . He was also the musical director of “Ayrton Senna, The Musical” starring Hugo Bonemer.
In this production of “Aida”, Douglas will be part of the group of actors. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera stars soprano Angel Blue, who makes her Met debut playing an enslaved Ethiopian princess who falls in love with an Egyptian general. In the story, this passion puts them in an almost impossible situation between love, loyalty and war.
Despite not being in a prominent role, the Brazilian celebrates the fact of being on the Met stage and celebrates the important step taken towards his main goal: to shine on Broadway as he did in Brazil. In the United States, the actor studied vocal training at Julliard and has been in some productions on the off-Broadway circuit, such as “In Emily’s Words” and “Picasso in Paris”.
“To be very honest, the trajectory was always thought of as musical. I didn’t think I was going to do opera and I didn’t even have it in my head. My objective in coming to New York was precisely the fact that Broadway is here: to have access to musicals, to be able to see things up close, to study with the people who currently make musicals here, thinking about vocal technique”, explained the actor.
The movement, however, is a resumption of the beginning of Douglas’ career, who graduated in lyrical singing from the Federal University of São João del Rei (UFSJ), in Minas Gerais.
“I started studying voice for opera, I fell in love with musicals along the way”, he said, and later said that he included songs from musicals in his repertoire throughout the course.
After reaching one of the most important stages in the world, the Minas Gerais native revealed to CNN the desire to inspire other people to pursue their dream of getting there just as he was inspired by Paulo Szot, the only Brazilian to take home a trophy from the Tony Awards. He won the category of Best Actor in a Musical in 2008 for his performance in “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific”.
“Someone goes there, does it and you say: ‘no, it’s not impossible’. This for me is very important. It’s not that unattainable if you think you have to prepare for it, like I did. I didn’t wake up one day and think, ‘I’m going to go to New York and audition for the Met and I’m going to get in. It’s not like that,” said Douglas. “It’s a construction: making a choir, starting from the bottom, putting on a small show.”
He also gives tips for those who want to start pursuing their dream of starring in a musical, but don’t know where. “Go to a musical school. You’ll take an editing course, so you can experience what it’s like to perform a musical on stage. Do you feel like your voice is getting better, are you thinking better, are you acting more, taking theater classes? Go do a test here, do a test there. It starts at the bottom and works its way up.”
This content was originally published in Meet the Brazilian actor who was accepted into the Metropolitan Opera in New York on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
