Mary Lou Fallis: Soprano
"The fabulousest, Canadianest Diva of them all"
John Terauds (Toronto Star)
Toronto-born Mary Lou Fallis holds a unique position of “Canada foremost musical comedienne.” Known to thousands of viewers and listeners across the country for the Bravo! television series Bathroom Divas, her CBC Radio series Diva Diaries, and to hundreds of theatre-goers for her Primadonna series of one-woman shows, Ms. Fallis has single-handedly re-invented the classical music comedy genre.
A favourite of the late Anna Russell, Ms. Fallis made her operatic debut at 15 years of age as the Second Spirit in a CBC Television production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. After obtaining the first Master’s degree in Performance and Literature from the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, her career has encompassed performances of major oratorios and choral works with leading orchestras, as well as opera — with roles ranging from Despina in Cosi fan Tutte to Zerbinetta in R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. In addition to her North American engagements Ms. Fallis has toured the United Kingdom extensively, appearing in London’s West End, Covent Garden International Festival, the Wexford Opera Festival, and the Edinburgh International Festival.
Ms. Fallis is best known as the creator and interpreter of five one-woman shows: her award-winning, Dora-nominated Primadonna, based on her own life as a singer, and its two sequels Primadonna’s First Farewell Tour; and Primadonna Does More With Less, which was premiered at the 2005 Guelph Spring Festival; Emma, Queen of Song about the real-life Canadian diva, Emma Albani; The Mrs. Bach Show hosted by Anna Magdalena, wife of J.S. Bach; and Ms. Mozart, the story of Wolfgang’s sister Nannerl (created for the 1991 Mozart bicentennial).
Ms Fallis’ Diva Diaries was a popular Friday afternoon series on CBC Radio’s Take Five, which featured the Primadonna’s personal and hilarious observations about her travels, both real and imaginary, across Canada.
Ms. Fallis was the music producer of Bathroom Divas, a new six-part reality TV series that quickly developed a cult following. Opera’s answer to American Idol, Bathroom Divas featured Ms. Fallis as part of a jury selecting the grand-prize winner from hundreds of hopefuls in a nation-wide challenge. She won a Gemini AWARD for producing that series.
Over the holiday season, Miss Fallis hosted and performed at the Toronto Symphony’s Family concert,spoke to the Women’s Canadian Club and will appear at this year’s Festival of the Sound in "The Primadonna goes Camping".
With her two children grown, Ms Fallis lives in Toronto with her husband, who plays in the Toronto Symphony and a very woolly dog named Percy. |
