Mo.Joe interviews Michael Mayes

In our OVATIONS! Magazine, Maestro Joseph Mechavich interviews Michael Mayes who will be returning to Kentucky Opera to perform the role of Escamillo in the opening production CARMEN (September 23 & 25). Mayes was here last season to play Silvio in I PAGLIACCI.

The OVATIONS! Magazine is sent to subscribers to prepare them for the upcoming opera. It includes information on the composer, the opera, the characters, the setting - basically any information that we can get. In our CARMEN issue, not only does the Maestro interview cast members the stage director, Kristine McIntyre has her "Director's Corner" to discuss her side of the stage.

The OVATIONS! will be hitting mailboxes next week! (If you don't get one, think about subscribing. 502-584-4500 www.kyopera.org)

Here is a bit of the Mo.Joe's interview with Michael Mayes.

MO.JOE: Where do you call home?

M.Mayes: Ft. Worth, Texas, aka The Panther City

MO.JOE: Who has had the biggest influence in your career and why?

M.Mayes: It's hard to really pick one person~ so I'll have to spread the love around a little bit. My agent, Ana de Archuleta has been an incredible friend, promoter, and advisor to me for my entire professional life... Ana took a chance on me back when I was a virtual nobody~ she saw in me something that I couldn't see myself, and over the years, together we've developed a career that hasn't followed the traditional track to notoriety~ but one borne of hard-scrabble determination, fierce loyalty, and an unwillingness to abandon course when things got lean. Ana is a true American success story and my admiration for her increases with every passing year.  (More here in the CARMEN issue of OVATIONS!) 

MO.JOE: What is your one guilty pleasure?

M.Mayes: Sour Patch Kids candy; I can't walk into a movie theatre without loading up~ it's a childhood habit that has never truly been quashed.

MO.JOE: What music is on your ipod or MP3 player?

M.Mayes: Right now I am listening to a band called the Fleet Foxes based in Seattle. They're a kind of baroque folky band that's super mellow. My staples are Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, Metallica, Iron and Wine, Hank Williams, Amber Digby and Midnight Flyer, Loretta Lynn etc... I think I was born in the wrong decade.

Stay tuned for more interviews from Mo.Joe here on the blog. Check out Mo.Joe's latest video on what's so special about CARMEN here.