Eleanor Strutt’s journey to choreographing and stage directing opera & musical theatre

Eleanor Strutt made her professional operatic debut aged 18 with Heritage Opera as Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro. “My teacher at the time, Tom Elgie, encouraged me to audition. He didn’t think I’d get the part as I was too young, but he framed it as a good learning opportunity,” she explains. “I managed to land the role, so I finished my A Levels and went straight into rehearsals. Heritage Opera is a fantastic company who are based in the North West of England but tour the whole of the UK. They’re the type of company where everyone is involved – there are allocated stage managers and directors, but if you’re not doing anything in a rehearsal, you can grab a paint brush and paint a bit of set, or have a go at making a prop.

“It was a brilliant opportunity because not only did I get to perform the role of Barbarina, I also sat in rehearsals and watched as the company worked and developed the rest of the opera. Barbarina’s only in acts three and four, but I was in rehearsals voluntarily because I was keen to learn – I watched how the director worked, I helped to create props, I looked at how the costumes were made. It was incredible to be part of it. We went on tour and performed eleven shows across the UK. It was very busy but truly brilliant and transformed everything I thought my life was going to be. I grew up doing musicals and dancing at school. I always knew I wanted to be doing something in theatre. I just didn’t quite know what. Then suddenly, this opportunity came and I fell in love with the opera world.”

Since working with Heritage Opera during her gap year, Eleanor has been invited to work on all their subsequent productions. She recalls some of the highlights: “Heritage Opera’s The Magic Flute was a really special production. I performed in it during the first year of my master’s at Trinity Laban and the conservatoire was really supportive, encouraging me to take part. My singing teacher Tom was very sadly diagnosed with a brain tumour and he should have been performing the role of Papageno but had to pull out. I ended up being Papagena and assistant directing, but I did Papagena on point. I trained as a ballet dancer and the choreographer asked if I could try it. This was a whole new experience – dancing on point and trying to sing the Papagena Papagena duet is no mean feat!

Opera transformed everything I thought my life was going to be.

“One of the performances we did took place at Stafford Castle. They were putting on a production of The Tempest, and they built an outdoor theatre, and allowed us to put on our production of The Magic Flute there. We’d set up our production on a desert island. There are a lot of similarities between The Tempest and The Magic Flute which I hadn’t really considered until this one-off performance. It was only a couple of weeks before he died, but Tom came to see the performance and said that he was very proud. It was very special.”

This year, Eleanor is set to become the new Co-Artistic Director of Heritage Opera. The company is planning a tour of Carmen in 2025, which she will be co-directing and performing in. She often combines her on-stage talents with behind-the-scenes direction. “Last summer, I did L’Elisir d’Amore with Opera South East, and it was amazing because I got to sing the role of Gianetta but I was also Assistant Director and Choreographer, so I was balancing a lot within the production,” she reflects. “We did the production without a chorus and instead created an additional character which made it a very small cast of six. We performed for two weeks and create this fantastic, zany show which we then took on tour and had so much fun with.” Among her other varied projects are assistant directing for the revival of Oliver Mears’ Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House and directing / choreographing Singing’ in the Rain for Geoids Musical Theatre.

Passionate about the interplay of text, music, and movement, Eleanor leverages her vocal and dance background to empower performers to embody their characters. She regularly works with young singers, nurturing their talent and cultivating their artistry and stagecraft. In the years after finishing her master’s degree with distinction at Trinity Laban, Eleanor has returned to direct Opera Scenes. “I feel part of the Vocal Studies Department family and it’s really wonderful to work with the students. I hope to give them some of the things that I was hoping for when I was training. For many students, it’s the first time that they’ve ever approached operatic material. Classical singers sometimes get a bad reputation for stagecraft – sometimes, it gets left at the door and it doesn’t have to be. One of the things that I’ve really loved about my chance to work with students is encouraging them to explore their physicality and the Laban techniques. One of the directors that we worked with when I did Opera Scenes as a student, Chris Lane, taught us about the Laban Efforts. They’re a way of approaching movement, related to how heavy or light your movement is, whether it’s direct or indirect, sustained or sudden. We’re at Trinity Laban – why not use Rudolf Laban’s Efforts in the Vocal Studies Department and then find more of this identity for a performer, where they’re confident in using their body and characterising a piece of music or a role? It encourages them to play and push boundaries. It’s been great to pass this on.

“Trinity Laban is great for just encouraging people to step out of their comfort zones and giving something a try. Too often, we’re hesitant because we’re worried that we’ll fail or we’re too focused on the final result. We forget that the journey is actually a really important part of the experience as well. That’s something I really enjoyed looking at: going into a room with an idea of something that I want to create or make, but then changing and developing it along the way with the students. Playing to the strengths of individuals in a way that will encourage those who might be less confident is a really exciting prospect as well.”

Eleanor highlights that her master’s course opened up many new doors and opportunities. She completed the degree across three years, going part-time for her final two years while balancing her freelance work. She remembers one year where she couldn’t audition for an opera because she had laryngitis, but she applied to be assistant director. This paved the way to her current career path – a freelance opera director. “The fact that Trinity Laban have these opportunities is brilliant. The master’s degree prepares you to be a portfolio musician – we teach, we perform, we direct,” she says. “We do other things alongside our work that feed into our practice. I had a great singing teacher here – someone I trusted who encouraged me – and I was in a really great cohort and community. The way in which the singers support each other in performance and language classes is phenomenal and unique.”

We’re at Trinity Laban – why not use Rudolph Laban’s Efforts in the Vocal Studies Department?

In May 2019, Eleanor was elected Trinity Laban Student Union President and worked in the role for two years. Before this, she was postgraduate officer, which showed her the potential of the Student Union and how important it is for setting up a dialogue between student body and management. During her tenure, the workings of the master’s degree were re-examined in consultation with students. There are now more formative essays and submissions, with detailed feedback, in support of summative assessments. Another key campaign involved getting free period products in all of the toilets: women’s, men’s, gender-neutral, and accessible toilets across all of Trinity Laban’s sites. The SU held events and fundraised for it, paying for the trial six months of subscription before Trinity Laban took over the bill. To this day, these products are still being used and refilled – Eleanor describes this as one of her proudest achievements.

In the academic year of 2020-2021, Eleanor was determined to arrange in-person fresher’s events for new students joining Trinity Laban. “I really wanted to make sure that individuals living on their own away from home had friends and a community around them. Because our term starts early and we are blessed with some gorgeous outdoor spaces – including the lawn outside Laban Building – we were able to hold outdoor events. I did a lot of risk assessments, working with the council and Trinity Laban’s license holder to make sure that these events could go ahead. We were the only higher education institution to do any in-person fresher’s event in 2020 across the UK.

“It wasn’t the same as a normal fresher’s. People were sat in pods and we grouped up course mates who were living individually so that they had friends in groups. We made sure everyone was testing and took great care of the students; we managed it. None of our events were cancelled and they were all well attended. I think the students were really grateful and I was proud of my team because they worked tirelessly to make sure we could carry this out.”

During the second lockdown, Eleanor’s SU team participated in one-to-one calls with every student at Trinity Laban. There were eight team members and 1200 students, but they systematically worked through everyone who had signed up to the opportunity. Every student had the chance to be heard. “I believe we ended up speaking to over 75% of the student body, checking in and seeing how they were, whether they were at home with family, or locked down in London, to find out if there was anything we could do. We created care packages for those who needed it, or if somebody was isolating and wasn’t able to access things, we put measures in place to support them as best we could,” she says. “While it was a very difficult time to be SU President and a normal working day flew out the window, I think the students knew that we were there for them. We continued to run online events. We did everything we could to make sure that they felt seen and heard by us. We were communicating with Trinity Laban and doing what we could to try and get the buildings back open as quickly as possible.”

As part of her work as SU President, Eleanor collaborated with the Conservatoires UK network and wrote a letter to Michelle Donelan (the UK’s Minister of State for Higher and Further Education at the time), asking for early access to practice rooms. At the same time, she obtained an agreement from Trinity Laban to renovate the SU bar, fundraising for the expense and seeing through the design.

If somebody tells you that you can’t possibly sing and direct and stage manage, then it’s not true. You absolutely can.

Eleanor went on to work as Development Officer in the Corporate Affairs Department of Trinity Laban. One of the key responsibilities of this role was running and organising events for donors. When she first joined the team, they were in the process of creating the Sir Charles Mackerras Circle, a group dedicated to anyone who left a legacy to Trinity Laban in their will. Sir Charles Mackerras was a conductor and Honorary President of Trinity Laban who left a gift to the conservatoire in his will, which now supports the Mackerras Junior Fellow in Conducting. “I really wanted to arrange a launch event to both welcome members to the circle who have already agreed to give, but also to reach out to donors who might be interested in finding out more,” says Eleanor. “I wanted it to be something special. We decided not to do a sit-down dinner, but instead held a performance in the Peacock Room – a scene from Così fan tutte which I staged and directed. I translated the lyrics into English because Sir Charles worked so often with the English National Opera and was a big lover of Mozart. It was a tribute to him and it was a really well received event that is now run annually.”

From stage to behind-the-scenes, Eleanor provides some tips for students looking to explore directing and choreographing alongside their performance careers. “First of all, I don’t think anyone should be put into a box,” she says. “If somebody tells you that you can’t possibly sing and direct and stage manage, then it’s not true. You absolutely can. I would encourage you to speak to Jennifer Hamilton (Head of Vocal Studies) who is huge on supporting students to explore and experience other parts of the opera function.

“Take risks, take a chance. When I was a student, I ran the Puzzle Piece Opera company here, and I wrote a jukebox opera and then staged it. We took it on tour and it was really well received.

“Explore and read and reach out to people. I’m hoping to break the barriers to this, but assistant director work or early stage management experience is often offered as unpaid internships. This isn’t always viable for people – it doesn’t mean that the experience won’t be valuable, but you should consider different options before accepting the fate that it’s an impossible avenue. There are charities that will sponsor individuals who want to take on those kind of roles, but also there are companies who will pay. That’s what I hope to do: one of the ways in which we’re transforming Heritage Opera is to make sure that we’re paying London living wage to anyone that’s working for our company. We want to make sure that people have the opportunity to experience and observe but without taking a financial hit.

“The biggest thing is to encourage individuals to persevere, fundraise, and create their own projects, whilst reaching out to companies and pushing them to offer paid opportunities for early stage directors, choreographers stage managers, costume designers. You can do it and perform at the same time. It’s 100% possible.”

Image Credits: Cover image by Peter Mould (stagesnaps), headshot by B.Clarence Photography