American soprano opera singer Deborah Voigt has been denied the opportunity to sing at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London, because she does not fit the casting director’s vision of the character and cannot “fit into the little black cocktail dress chosen for the character.”
The reason?
… as audiences are graying, opera houses are looking for ways to pack in a younger crowd. Casting directors trying to make opera hip may be turned off by “big hips,” like those Ms. Voigt admits to owning.