We celebrate and we fawn at the feet of the opera greats: the Pavarottis and the Domingos. But what about the also rans, the singers who never made it to the top but who toiled away as journeymen, grabbing the best roles they could find and somehow finding a living at the opera house?
One such was bass-baritone Archie Drake, who started out as a merchant seaman from Britain and ended up as the “soul of Seattle Opera.”
Archie Drake sang his last role last month. After singing a minor role in Seattle Opera's production of Verdi's Macbeth he was driven home after the last performace, and collapsed at his apartment door with a massive heart attack. He was 81.
Since joining Seattle Opera in 1968 he had sung over 109 roles including the Rocco in Fidelio, Wotan in Die Wälkure, and Dr Bartolo in Barber of Seville. In later years he sang minor bass parts, always turning up in some role or another. You'd say, by golly, there is Archie Drake. How does he do it at his age?
Last month Archie Drake must have known the end was coming. According to John Marshall he knew it was going to be tough to make it through Macbeth.
On several occasions, he expressed concern about whether he would "make it through" the production. On Friday, the next-to-last night of the run, Drake sat backstage and told fellow singer Byron Ellis that "all I need is 30 more hours."
He made it through, but only just.
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