The Singing Stitcher

Happy New Year! Well, looking back on last year and all I was involved in, this was definitely one of my best bits.

In August I got to help create and be in an opera, singing and performing and everything. I was meant to just be making costumes, but me and Laura the designer somehow became involved in order to ‘make up the numbers’. I got well into it, as I’ve been known to write the odd ditty and sing the odd tune. So it was hop off (the stage) and hop on (the sewing machine) most of the time for me. I was a warbling bouncy ball.

We decided to give it the title of Linenopolis since it was about the Belfast linen mills, a subject very close to my heart. We even had our dress rehearsal in Conway Mill at the Saturday market, and our performance went down a treat. That night the actual show was held in the Duncairn Arts Centre, and I was a bag of nerves in case I forgot anything. Luckily none of us did and it was great, or so I’m told.

The project was organised by Belfast Buildings Trust and NI Opera, and the participants and performers were all members of community groups. The venture was so successful they’re now talking about making it into a proper opera and staging it at The Mill. Very exciting!

We had real opera singers working with us, namely the lovely Lucia, Richard, Laura – and Donal who was the pianist. I asked Richard afterwards if I would now be able to call myself an International Opera Singer. ‘You can’ he said all serious like, and that made my wee face light up.