LONDON (Reuters) -
A packed performance of a West End opera
was saved at the weekend when a member of the audience stepped
in to sing the lead role after the star lost his voice.
Paul Whelan, 38, saved the English National Opera's
production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor by singing the
part of Raimondo from the wings while bass Clive Bayley, who
suffered a chest infection, mimed the part on stage.
Whelan was able to carry off the feat as he had been
studying the role and is due to take over from Bayley in a few
weeks' time, although he hadn't had any chance to rehearse.
"It was an extraordinary experience and we had an
extraordinary reaction," Whelan, who stands six feet four
inches tall, said after receiving a standing ovation and taking
his bow with the cast while wearing a smart suit and tie.
"I'm just so glad I was wearing my Armani tie," he said.
A spokesman for the ENO said it was not the first time such
a late-minute replacement had occurred. He added it had gone
off much more successfully than might otherwise have been the
case.
"He got a huge cheer," he said.
(Reporting by Luke Baker; Editing by Charles Dick)
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