The Gaumont had operated as a cinema for most of the time since 1928, but the stage and all other essentials were intact, and Dundee Operatic were allowed to use the building for one week a year - a great deal of dusting must have gone on backstage.
This season, the two works were, as usual, a serious opera alternating with a lighter piece. This year the second work was almost operetta, The Vagabond King. The Traviata cast was led by local soprano Mary Cairns and a new arrival, a 27-year-old tenor born on Iona. Kenneth Macdonald would spend much of his career at Covent Garden, making important Edinburgh Festival appearances with that company and the English Opera Group. Luckily, before that happened he visited Dundee for several seasons, sometimes appearing in both works.
© Copyright Opera Scotland 2024
Site by SiteBuddha