See how a tenor is transformed into an emperor
We followed Michael Schade backstage at the Canadian Opera Company as he was fitted for his ‘armour’ for La Clemenza di Tito
TORONTO, ONTARIO: December 28, 2012 - Canadian tenor Michael Schade is photographed and prepares to have a cast made of his chest in the costume department of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Ontario Friday Dec. 28, 2012. Mr. Schade takes on the lead role of Tito in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail) (For Arts & Life story by n/a)Tim Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Prop builder Karen Rodd wraps Schade in saran wrap and wet fibre-mesh bandages. December 28, 2012 - Canadian tenor Michael Schade is wrapped in a fibre-mesh casting by prop builder Karen Rodd inside the costume department of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Ontario Friday Dec. 28, 2012. Mr. Schade takes on the lead role of Tito in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito and, due to his larger build, needed to have Tito's armor custom fitted before it was created. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail) (For Arts & Life story by n/a)Tim Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Canadian tenor Michael Schade holds up an example of the armor chest piece over a mould of his own torso as prop builder Karen Rodd looks on inside the costume department of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Ontario Friday Dec. 28, 2012.Tim Fraser/The Globe and Mail
TORONTO, ONTARIO: December 28, 2012 - Canadian tenor Michael Schade has a fibre-mesh casting pulled off by prop builders Karen Rodd, left, and Denise Brabant inside the costume department of the Canadian Opera Company.Tim Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Prop builder Karen Rodd marks the point of contact of the fibre-mesh casting. inside the costume department of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Ontario Friday Dec. 28, 2012. Mr. Schade takes on the lead role of Tito in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito and, due to his larger build, needed to have Tito's armor custom fitted before it was created. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail) (For Arts & Life story by n/a)Tim Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Having a bespoke breast plate made was just one part of the preparations Canadian tenor Michael Schade is undertaking to play Tito in the COC’s Febrauary production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.Tim Fraser/The Globe and Mail