Opera Vagabond

The Opera Vagabond is the perzine by Opera singer stefano who toured as a singer in 'Phantom of the Opera'.

Published from 1994 through 1997 TOV chronicled the life and experiences of a 'marginally talented' opera singer (stefano) who got his "big break" singing as a lead in a touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera'. The zine covered his early student days singing opera at a mormon-owned university, his surreptitious rebellion as a classical music radio announcer, his on-the-road adventures traveling from Utah to living as a bohemian in NYC, his "stardom" in amateur opera productions (singing for captive audiences at retirement homes), becoming a member of the La Gran Scena opera company, and finally his 'big professional break' becoming a cog in the world of corporate art. After reaching the zenith of his opera career, TOV covers stefano's sudden career demise and merciless destruction of his singing voice due to the demands of "corporate art', and his subsequent mental breakdown and ending with his final performances in Alaska singing Tamino in Mozart's masonic trope, 'The Magic Flute'. TOV featured occasional zine reviews, societal commentary, and the random celebrity cameo from Cher to Al Gore to Rudy Giuliani to Donny Osmond to Alice Cooper and finally to his boyhood crush, Julie Andrews. (All of which were true encounters, according to stefano. . .)