The leading British conductor Sir Mark Elder reportedly gave his London acting debut this week. Sir Mark's inner thesp came out during a performance at the Royal Festival Hall of Offenbach's Fantasio, where he gave the spoken lines of Le Tailleur. Whether his cameo makes it onto the linked recording, on the Opera Rara label of which Elder is artistic director, remains to be seen. Apparently he managed to both conduct the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and have his lines heard by turning to the side for a moment.
Not that we expect Elder's King Lear any day now, but this is as good an excuse as any to recall five famous cases of musicians turning to the thespianic arts...
1. Willard White's Othello -- magnificent brooding from the bass as director Trevor Nunn harnessed all of the singer's considerable stage presence and worked with him intensely on the verse-speaking. The production was filmed, and it's probably the best Othello on DVD, with Ian McKellen's matchless Iago alongside.
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