Paparazzi – Opera on the Rocks
June 7 & 8
Prepare yourself to enjoy one of the most unique theatrical experiences you’ll ever ‘experience’, when you ‘experience’ acclaimed tenor Luciano Paparazzi for an evening of Operatic Comedy. Finally, Opera and comedy TOGETHER as they were never meant to be! Paparazzi will take the audience through the last century of popular music and “educate” you on why opera is the greatest form of music ever devised. Because, in his over-inflated opinion, all ‘pop music’ has been influenced and shaped by it. Is it true? Who knows? Paparazzi believes so, and would it hurt to hear the man out? Worse case scenario is that you have some great laughs and listen to excellent music in this good production, clean silliness for audiences of all ages.
Canadian theatre professional Kieran Martin Murphy (Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, King Arthur in Spamalot) not only morphs into this hilarious spoof of the great Pavarotti, but he also takes on a cavalcade of other musical greats to prove his thinly veiled point. Tom Jones, Roy Orbison and Elvis appear and some other surprise guests. The show is guaranteed to tickle the funny bone and delight your ears…don’t miss it!
The History of Paparazzi Kieran Martin Murphy has been playing the character of Luciano Paparazzi for 30 years. It all began in 1993 when he was a young Tenor in Edmonton, Alberta’s professional choir, Pro Coro Canada. What started as a fun spoof of ‘The 3 Tenors’, put together for a fundraising dinner, quickly grew to become ‘The PreTenors,’ an operatic/comedy sensation that lasted 3 decades.
The PreTenors were a staple in corporate entertainment circles and toured North America with their irreverent take on characters of the world famous trio. (Luciano Paparazzi, Placebo Domingo and Jose WhoCarras). They had a field day with exaggerating the personalities of the three singers. Placebo was the handsomest of the group and was the greatest tenor alive. Paparazzi had a voracious appetite, pulling food products out of the nooks and crannies of his tuxedo…he was the greatest tenor alive. And Jose…..well….WhoCarras? The physical comedy was what made the show funny, but it was the excellent music and world-class singing that took it over the top. They performed in public sparingly but sold out every performance at Edmonton’s International Fringe festival. (3 years straight) The same occurred at the Calgary Fringe Festival and they also performed for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
and the Calgary Philharmonic.
After 3 decades of touring together, The PreTenors slowed down, and some of the cast retired from the group. Then, one day during the first year of the COVID pandemic, Murphy received a call asking if he might be able to put together a one-man Paparazzi show to bring to the Banff Springs hotel in the summer of 2021. The hotel was among the first to attempt to bring back live performances to their guests. Eager to step on stage again, Murphy took up the challenge and developed an entirely new show with Jennifer McMillan, who not only accompanies on piano but also lends her stellar vocals to the mix, and she joins Paparazzi in a variety of selections. (Most notably in a gorgeous rendition of the Andrea Bocelli/Celine Dion mega-hit The Prayer). Since those first performances in 2021, Murphy and McMillan began doing backyard concerts in the Edmonton area to continue to develop and strengthen the content of the show and now find themselves back in the world of Corporate entertainment. This is only the second season of “Opera on the Rocks!” These two are looking forward to a bright and exciting future.