Endangered Productions treasures Lesley Braithwaite who is a regular cast member appearing in five of our major productions, often as lead. Lesley returned to perform the major role of Lucy in 'The Telephone' in our 2023 production It's So Last Century. She was also a party guest in 'Introductions and Goodbyes'.
Having dedicated many years to finessing her skills as a dancer and choreographer in Australia and the United States, Lesley brings an innate kinetic know-how to her stage performances. While exploring the Tango scene in San Francisco she landed an unexpected gig singing in a bar, which rekindled a deep desire to ‘find’ and develop her voice and explore the spellbinding potential of the chanteuse. A far cry perhaps from the rare chamber opera gems presented in this performance … which of course makes the enterprise all the more delicious.
Lesley joined forces with Endangered Productions in early 2020 when she was invited to sing the role of Herr Schlendrian’s wilful daughter, Lieschen or Lisa, in their production of JS Bach's charmingly comedic Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht - also known as the Coffee Cantata.
Whilst this production was delayed by the “on again off again” jig of social restrictions that year, the void was quickly filled with another Endangered endeavour .
Nordic Noir wove together excerpts from Peer Gynt alongside an original play, aptly titled Virus - a Fugue by playwright Fredrik Brattberg. This production was sponsored, in part, by The Royal Norwegian Embassy.
Lesley played the central character of SHE in Brattberg’s work. And in the tribute to Grieg , could be seen cavorting with trolls as a lusty herd girl, before donning the hooded cape of soulful Solveig. She reports that “singing that character’s divine signature aria, in Norwegian, to a room filled with Norwegians, is an experience that remains firmly planted between terror and triumph”.
The Coffee Cantata ultimately debuted in Bobin NSW when the company toured Bach to the Bush in 2021. It was then paired with Mozart’s Bastien & Bastienne for Double Trouble presented at Customs House in Sydney with Lesley performing the lead soprano role in both works.
