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Valencienne: Bridget Peirson-Davis Bridget has played many soprano roles in operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan and modern musicals in the UK . Since coming to Belgium in 2000 she has appeared as Lalume in Kismet with Brussels Light Opera Company and has sung and directed in String of Pearls and the BLOC on Broadway shows. She has organised and appeared in charity classical music concerts at the British School of Brussels and has been a guest soloist for the International Chorale of Brussels. As her interests are evenly balanced between music and drama, Bridget has appeared in plays with English Comedy Club and the American Theatre Company. She teaches singing and has directed plays, musicals and operettas in the UK and Brussels , these include The Gondoliers for Brussels Light Opera Company and most recently Me and My Friend for English Comedy Club. |
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Camille: Andrew
Pimm Andrew landed in Belgium in 1994 and has since regularly featured as a principal singer with The Brussels Light Opera Company in shows such as The Pirates of Penzance, La Vie Parisienne, Oklahoma, HMS Pinafore, The Gypsy Princess, Kismet and The Gondoliers . In 2004, wearing suitable attire, he played Joseph, in BLOC's hugely successful production of Lloyd-Webber/Rice's Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - a hard act to follow! Andrew has also appeared many times as a soloist in works by Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart with The International Chorale of Brussels under the experienced baton of Pam Clements MBE. The character of Camille de Rosillon, in this production of The Merry Widow, is youthful, handsome, carefree, rich, aristocratic and passionate?! - Yes, I know! - remember this is theatre, where anything is possible! Enjoy the show! |
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Zeta: John Robinson Over the years in Brussels , John has played roles in a number of G&S operettas, including Pooh Bah in Mikado , Giuseppe in The Gondoliers , Sir Despard in Ruddigore and Shadbolt in Yeoman . He also trod the boards as Fred in Kiss Me Kate and has been involved in plays such as Bus Stop. |
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St. Brioche: Peter
De Schepper Peter is from Ghent. He started singing as a chorister when he was 6 years old and never stopped. He sang in different choirs before studying music in the Ghent, Brussels and St. Pieters Woluwe (Stokkel) academies where he obtained a certificate in music theory, singing, vocal ensemble and a first prize in lyrical art (opera class). Peter joined BLOC in 2000 for The Gipsy Princess and since then took part in (almost) every show playing a wide range of parts such as the Counsel for the Defence in Trial by Jury, Bangleman in Kismet, Romboïdal in L'Isle de Tulipatan, Francesco in The Gondoliers, King Arthur in Bloc on Broadway and of course in the choir - first Tenors - in other shows. Also a member of Hot Air he loves to sing 'close harmony' and madrigals, not forgetting the ‘classics’. Peter is the social secretary of BLOC and at parties he does his best as DJ. |
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Njegus: Peter
Mountain Peter has been involved with BLOC both on and off the stage since arriving in Brussels in 1987. He usually tries to corner the market in old cranky parts such as the Carpenter’s Mate in HMS Pinafore and Old Man Carnes in Oklahoma. Peter continues to exploit this particular niche as the oldest and grumpiest brother in Joseph. He also enjoys singing with the Hot Air choir and particularly likes singing bass in barbershop groups. |
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Cascada: Paul Manterfield Paul started his musical life as a woodwind player in the orchestra pit and moved to singing on-stage with South Yorkshire Opera in the 1970s. After a career tour in Africa, he came to Brussels in 1979 and joined BLOC (then the Brussels Gilbert and Sullivan Society) in 1984, singing many roles, stage directing and serving as chairman. He is currently treasurer of the company. Outside BLOC life, Paul sings in a choir, plays in a big-band and runs a small computer software business. |
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Sylvia: Marjolein Kluen-Gabel Marjolein has been a member of BLOC since the Carousel production some 12/13 years ago. She has been active in most BLOC productions since: in the chorus, as a principal, as Production Manager, as Stage Director. Marjolein also sings with the HotAir Singers and has, together with Lisa Armetta, formed a small musical group called MARLIS which recently produced a very successful show called Wild Flowers in de Kam. More to come! |
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Olga:
Chloe Eeman Belgian-American Chloe has spent most of her life in Belgium, though she trained for a few years at the Royal Ballet School in London, and later studied languages in Vienna. She has been a member of BLOC for the past 18 years and has performed in most of its productions, culminating in the delectably flirtatious cameo role of Olga, a welcome change from the exhaustingly seductive part of Praskovia which she played in BLOC's 1992 production of The Merry Widow. |
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Praskovia:
Annika Norström Annika is Swedish and has lived in Brussels for over 25 years. She began to perform as a singer at the age of 14 and got her musical experience - and her pocket money! - as a vocalist in various dance bands in Stockholm Later on she sang in a professional female trio with whom she made a recording and toured Sweden and the UK . Studies, work abroad and a marriage caused a longer break from the stage, to which she returned about 20 years ago when she joined the Brussels G&S Society. Since then she has sung in many G&S operettas, as well as numerous shows and musicals put on by among others BLOC and the American Theatre Company. Her greatest musical achievement in her own opinion, however, is her role as Mrs Olsen in the Belgian première of Kurt Weill's opera Street Scene. She was last seen in BLOC's production of A String of Pearls. |
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Kromov: Ed Gibson Ed Gibson has been a member of the organization since 1984. At that time he played Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance under the direction of Linda Beaumont, a founding member of The Brussels Gilbert & Sullivan Society (now BLOC). Nine years later he married her and has been under constant direction since. During all that time he has been on-stage, back-stage and off-stage with the company enjoying every minute of it. |
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Pritch: Lawrence Kelly Lawrence has been a member of BLOC since 1987 and has performed in nearly all of the productions staged by the society since then. He also sings in several choirs and plays an active part in other musical activities in Brussels . Apart from singing activities, he has often been involved in the organisation of shows, and has worked backstage and in front of house. Lawrence specialises in creating props for the society's productions . |
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Bogdanovitch: Jef van Hecke One of the aboriginals in BLOC, Jef was born in Gent as an addicted chorist and occasional soloist. Starting as a high treble, gravity (or something else?) threw him all the way down to bass baritone. The decisive blow of the singing microbe caught him whilst vocal training with Dina Grossberger. Next to singing in his hometown chorus Vokem and acting as a last minute stand-in in a variety of choirs, Jef sings with the Vokaal Collectief the grand orchestrated classical repertoire: oratoria, requiems and other messae solemnes, symphonies, opera etc. With the open air opera house Ideefixe, Jef participated in Die Zauberflöte, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro and La Bohème in Belgium , France , the Netherlands and Spain . He joined BLOC at the end of 2002 and... lived happily ever after? |
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Grisettes:
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Anna - The Merry Widow: Sophie de Sade
Danilo: Alan Mackenzie