Opera and football go together like, well… they don't really, do they? That depends, like most things, on who you are asking. If, for example, you pose the question to Morris Robinson, the bass in Vancouver Opera's latest production, Verdi's Aida, you'll get a unique perspective. You see, Robinson is a former college football standout, a 6'2", 287 pound, two-time All American offensive guard at The Citadel.
After he hung up his cleats, the native of Atlanta, GA, began performing for a completely different crowd: opera lovers.
Robinson draws a few parallels between being on stage and on the field.
"The comparisons are tremendously similar," he says. "One has to be disciplined. You have to be motivated to practice – lifting weights and training physically for football [compared to] studying the scores and doing vocal exercises for music. You have to be amenable to coaching. Football coaches yell and scream to get you to perform at a high level. Voice coaches don’t yell and scream, but they are very meticulous about how you prepare music. However, conductors and stage directors do yell and scream sometimes, so I’m used to that."
Aside from the physical and mental toughness, he says, teamwork is key to both: "In opera and football, you are part of a group, a team, with one common goal in mind – to perform together at a high level. Athletic competition amongst teams requires teamwork. Every person has to pull their respective weight, do their respective jobs and are held accountable for doing so if the team is to be successful. Same thing on stage. Each person – from the make-up artist, to the individual instrumentalists, to the conductor, the chorus, supers, principles – we all have to do our part to ensure the highest standard of artistic expression is being presented. In both, when everyone is putting forth their respective best efforts, magic happens, and the team wins."
From packed stadiums to packed opera houses, the pressure to perform is demanding. I asked Robinson when he felt the most pressure between his two careers: "4th and goal with :22 on the clock playing against SEC powerhouse University of South Carolina. My hands were on the goal line and we had to score in order to make history as a 1-AA school beating a bigger instate rival. 73,000 plus fans on their feet screaming..and we scored. That was pressure." However, he continues: "More pressure was my first ever performance of Sarastro in Die Zauberflote at The Metropolitan Opera, for a Saturday matinee international broadcast. After only 10 days' rehearsal! I didn't score! It was too much to handle!"
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