Opera singer Graeme Danby asked to sing at last two NUFC home games

Apr 29 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal

“Alan Shearer has said he wants me to gee up the crowd and I’m happy to do it because no one is more black and white than me,” said Graeme as he waited to board a train to London yesterday. “The problem is, I’ve got my La Scala debut coming up and that means a great deal to me too. It might not sound that important, but it’s a very big thing for my career. My agent is talking to La Scala at the moment to try to negotiate a little bit of time off from rehearsing.”

Graeme is due to perform as Snug, one of Shakespeare’s “rude mechanicals”, in Benjamin Britten’s operatic version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which opens in Milan on June 6, sung in English.

Yesterday he was returning to London en route to Italy. He will return to Britain tomorrow, to perform a concert in Newcastle Cathedral on Saturday, and then flies back to Milan on Sunday.

Graeme said many people had thanked him for his efforts on Monday, after which he travelled back to his parents’ home at Ponteland via the Metro.

“The club have been fantastic with me and they would have provided transport but I’m not a limo kind of person,” said the down-to-earth star who believes the club he loves will stay up.

“I wouldn’t be singing if I didn’t think they could do it,” he said.