PerformerUpClose: Flora McIntosh

Mezzo Flora McIntosh

OperaUpClose Performing Credits: Flora La Traviata, Carmen Carmen.

This interview was taken in April 2014. 

What's your favourite part of your job?

Rehearsing. I absolutely love it. The rehearsal room is where all the magic happens; where you can experiment and make mistakes and develop. I adore performing but it's the time leading up to it that's always special.

And your least favourite?

I should imagine everyone says this... uncertainty.

How did you get into theatre/opera?

I was lucky enough to grow up around the theatre and wanted to be a performer from a very young age. I had singing lessons at school and was then encouraged to audition for the Junior Royal Academy of Music where I had a singing teacher who really encouraged me to focus on classical music... I then went on to the Royal Northern college of Music and... the rest is history!

What is the best / most exciting/ inspiring theatre production you’ve ever seen?

Oh that is such a difficult one. There was a (now very famous) production of Nicholas Nickleby by the RSC when I was a baby; it was recorded for TV and my Mum showed it to me when I was about 4. I adored it and must of watched it 100 times through my childhood. It's still brilliant today. Also Stephen Daldry's production of Machinal with Fiona Shaw at the National Theatre... once seen never forgotten.

What is your dream role?

Again, tricky. I'd love to sing Charlotte Werther and Sesto La Clemenza di Tito. But really it's Judith in Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle.

What is the most embarrassing / funniest thing that has ever happened to you on stage?

There have been a few! But I think an incident at Grange Park wins. I was singing 2nd Lady in The Magic Flute and had an enormous pink wig. Right at the top of the show a wire got stuck in my wig and the crew attempted to fly it out with me attached. My brother was in the audience that night; what I remember most is the sound of him howling with laughter!