Ernesto Tomasini
Ernesto Tomasini is an Italian actor/singer/writer living in Britain. Best known for his more recent forays into contemporary music, he has also had a 30-year career on the stage.
Early Performances
Tomasini begun his career at 16 on the Italian comedy circuit. Throughout his teens he devised comedy sketches and sang songs in smoky clubs and small cabaret spaces in his home town of Palermo. On one instance he caused a riot by performing his "outrageous" show at a conservative political party's celebrations. As his acts became more sophisticated he moved up to exclusive clubs until he landed on the legitimate stage, appearing next to one of Italy's leading stars of the time, Duilio Del Prete, in the national premiere of Franz Xaver Kroetz's Death on Christmas Night. After this he performed in numerous theatre productions, never abandoning his first love: Cabaret. He was the support act for TV comedian Nino Frassica and performed on the televised Premio Anna Magnani. For the Scuola di Cabaret TV show, he created comic characters that became household names and in 1990 he was awarded the prize for best comedy act from Sicily.Stage
In 1992 he moved to the UK where, after graduating at the Arts Educational London School, he worked as actor/singer on the West End stage, in Off-West End productions and with experimental theatre companies.Having made some early experiments in the late '90s with a production called The Other Woman, in 2002 Tomasini started to create his own shows and first attracted attention with an appearance at the Edinburgh Festival with True or Falsetto? A Secret History of the Castrati. Written by Time Out critic Lucy Powell, the show was a sell out hit not only in Edinburgh but also in London for two seasons and on international tours, in three different languages. This was followed by Ernesto's own script for The Veiled Screen: A Secret History of Hollywood! which has had two London runs in 2006, sponsored by the Arts Council of England. Tomasini's style of performance – an operatic, dark and twisted blend of Italian Cabaret, avant-garde performance art and thought-provoking Vaudeville – has been described "as shocking as it is moving".
From 2013, after a six-year period dedicated almost exclusively to music, he returned to theatre with three new plays written especially for him: Andrea Cusumano's Petit Cheval Blanc, Roberta Torre's Aida and Il Mutamento's Mamma Schiavona. In 2017 he debuted his own musical comedy, Beato chi ci crede, at the Out Off Theatre in Milan.
As avant-garde comedian and cabaret artist he has performed in theatres, museums, nightclubs and cultural institutes in fourteen countries around the world and has collaborated with artists as diverse as Stephen Montague, Ron Athey, Carlos Motta and with the Resonance Radio Orchestra.
Very active in the fashion world, Tomasini performed at the shows of hat designer Nasir Mazhar for the 2008 and 2009 London Fashion Week and for Carlo Volpi at Pitti Uomo 2017.
Music
For the past twelve years he has been lending his wide vocal range to experimental music, singing an eclectic repertoire written by him or for him by a multitude of musicians, and, in the process, becoming an international cult figure. A wide vocal range combined with his melodramatic delivery have interested the press: Frontiers magazine described him as "the most exciting and flamboyant personality to shake up the opera world since Klaus Nomi"and Italian newspaper La Repubblica called him a "prominent figure in avant-garde circuits with his seducing high voice reminiscent of those belonging to evirated singers".
In 2016 he performed his new one man entertainment, "One Life To Live!“, at the National Theatres of Germany and Italy. He is singer/songwriter of the prog-rock band Almagest!, with which he tours extensively, appearing in venues like the Volksbuehne in Berlin and festivals like the Kurt Weill Fest.
Recently Tomasini collaborated with electronic producers Man Parrish and Shackleton, who wrote for him "Devotional Songs“, the critically acclaimed live show and album, which was among the best of 2016 for The Wire, The Quietus and many more. Other collaborations include Marc Almond, the late "father of industrial music" Peter Christopherson, Julia Kent, Andrew Liles, members of, Current 93, Rolo McGinty of The Woodentops, Othon, Adam Donen and José Macabra, with whom he opened the 2011 Drop Dead Festival in Berlin.
He has sung his repertoire in London venues like the Royal Albert Hall, Purcell Room, National Theatre, Roundhouse, Cadogan Hall, Tate Britain, National Portrait Gallery, and in historical theatres, museums and churches around the world. As a recording artist he sings on thirteen albums, four singles, five music videos and on the soundtrack of a film by Bruce LaBruce.
On radio he has sung, acted and was interviewed on all the BBC stations, Classic FM, RAI Radio3, Radio Nacional de España, Radio New Zealand and on major stations in France, Germany, Brazil and the US.
Other
In 2012 he was included in the Theatre/Music section of Eccellenza Italiana, for representing Italy in the world. In 2013 he was awarded the prize "Sicilian in the World" and in 2016 received the keys to the city by the mayor of his hometown of Palermo.A lecturer on theatre history and techniques he has given master-classes to drama students in England, Spain and Mexico. Tomasini is the only Italian to have given a masterclass at RADA Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
His work and performance style are discussed in four books and an academic essay.
For two years Ernesto was the London correspondent of the Italian magazine Musical!.
Discography
- Black Widow Beta Lactam-ring Records
- Black Sea Beta Lactam-ring Records
- When I Leave You Othon Mataragas
- Canes Venatici Blossoming Noise
- Otto; or, Up With Dead People Crippled Dick Hot Wax!
- Digital Angel Durtro Jnana
- The Hunting Dogs of Boötes the Herdsman Chew-z
- Last Night I Paid To Close My Eyes Cherry Red/SFE
- Impermanence Cherry Red/SFE
- Impermanence Cherry Red/SFE
- Düde Tin Angel Records
- Messier Objects Tourette Records
- InSonar, L'Enfant et le Ménure Lizard Records
- Dawn Yet To Come Cherry Red/SFE
- Pineal Cherry Red/SFE
- Devotional Songs Honest Jon
- Madame E Undogmatisch
- Star Parrish Digital
- Fun House Mirrors Backwards Records
- Plaisir Undogmatisch
- LB/R La Bellezza Riunita Lacerba
- Amour Braque Prophecy
Selection of Work in Variety, Cabaret and Performance Art
- The LA Italian Revue
- The Victoria Series
- Support for Nino Frassica
- The Lenny Beige Show at the Regency Rooms
- The Amazing Tomasini at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow
- Stars Fall From Heaven at the Colourscape Festival
- The History of Ecstasy at MADRE Museum, Naples
- Tomasini/Macabra Trans4Leben at the MILKandLEAD art gallery, London
- Lascia o raddoppia?
- Alternative Miss Liverpool
- Franko B's Untouchable
- New Year Celebrations in Piazza Politeama, Palermo
- Bowie Night at Ace Hotel, London
- Heavenly Voices/Sensual Bodies at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo
Selection of Theatre Work
- Morte nella notte di Natale
- Ballarò
- Nasci lu iornu
- Volti Lunari
- Reunion in Genthin
- Grand Hotel – The Musical
- The Tempest
- Varietè
- The Other Woman
- The Conquering Hero of Seville
- Mr China's Son
- True or Falsetto? A Secret History of the Castrati
- The Englishman Sits in a Caravan at St Osyth/Singing
- Cabaret – The Musical
- Chicago – The Musical
- The Veiled Screen: A Secret History of Hollywood
- Camurrìa!
- Petit Cheval Blanc
- Aida
- Mamma Schiavona
- Beato chi ci crede
Selection of TV, Film and Radio Work
- Premio Anna Magnani
- Woman's Hour
- Outlook
- Thunderpants
- Walking the Outer Road
- Crowded Skies
- Dream Team
- The Bottle Factory Outing
- Children of Men
- Siglo 21
- Otto; or, Up with Dead People
- Stoo Kuinnutu
- Othon & Tomasini en vivo a la Bienal de Zamora
- Forget Me Not
- Carne cruda
- Last Night I Paid To Close My Eyes
- Impermanence
- Heavenly Voices: The Legacy of Farinelli
Selection of Concerts and Recitals
- COPA at the Royal Albert Hall
- State of the Nation at the Purcell Room
- Andrew Liles + Ernesto Tomasini & Nurse With Wound at the Sala Apolo, Barcelona
- Othon & Tomasini's First European tour
- The Angelic Conversation with Peter Christopherson's The Threshold HouseBoys Choir in Turin
- Current 93 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, with guests Antony, Marc Almond and Ernesto Tomasini
- Andrew Liles + Ernesto Tomasini & Nurse With Wound at the Wet Sounds Festival, London
- Palumbo/Tomasini's Canes Venatici live at the Auditòrio de Serralves, Porto
- London Fashion Week, Nasir Mazhar spring show, London
- Ernesto Tomasini sings: Othon, Canes Venatici and Andrew Liles at the PRE Final Fest, Rome
- Othon & Tomasini at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
- Othon & Tomasini special guests at Marc Almond's Roundhouse concert, London
- Othon & Tomasini in the West End, London
- Othon & Tomasini at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Palumbo/Tomasini's Canes Venatici live at the Volksbuehne, Berlin
- Othon & Tomasini at the Teatro Lara, Madrid
- Palumbo/Tomasini's Almagest! at the Kampnagel, Hamburg
- Palumbo/Tomasini's Almagest! at the Natural History Museum, Turin
- Tomasini/Macabra Trans4Leben at the Drop Dead Festival, Berlin
- Othon & Tomasini at Chelsea Theatre, Impermanence
- Othon & Tomasini Live in London at St Leonard's Church Shoreditch
- Almagest! at Kurt Weill Fest
- Poems After Lorca at the Cadogan Hall, London
- Pineal at the Garage, London
- Deliquium at Electrowerks, London
- TG Body Probe at the Coronet, London
- Ninja Tunes at St John at Hackney, London
- Shackleton/Tomasini at CaixaForum, Madrid and Barcelona
- Tomasini Masterclass at RADA, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts
- Ernesto Tomasini Live, Teatro Biondo, Palermo
- Shackleton/Tomasini at Arma17, Moscow
- Shackleton/Tomasini at EYE, Amsterdam