Ernesto Tomasini

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Ernesto Tomasini
Ernesto Tomasini at home.jpg
Born (1968-05-15) 15 May 1968 (age 57)
Palermo

Ernesto Tomasini (born 15 May 1968, in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian actor/singer/writer living in Britain. Best known for his more recent forays into contemporary music, he has also had a 35-year career on the stage.

Contents

Early Performances

Tomasini began his career at the age of 16 on the Italian comedy circuit [1] . He subsequently made his theatrical debut appearing alongside Duilio Del Prete in the national première of Franz Xaver Kroetz’s Death on Christmas Night [2] . He later appeared in numerous theatre productions while continuing to work in cabaret. He performed as a support act for the comedian Nino Frassica and appeared on the RAI 3 broadcast Premio Anna Magnani [3] For the television programme Scuola di Cabaret, he created comic characters that gained widespread recognition, and in 1990 he was awarded the prize for best comedy act in Sicily.

Stage

In 1992 Tomasini moved to the United Kingdom, where he trained at the Arts Educational London School. He subsequently worked as an actor and singer in the West End stage ( Chicago the Musical ), at the Royal National Theatre (The English Man...), with experimental theatre companies (Lindsay Kemp) [4] , in Off-West End productions (Blind Summit's Mr China's Son), and in national and international tours ( Cabaret (musical) ).

After early experiments in the late 1990s, including The Other Woman [5] , he began creating his own productions in the early 2000s. He first attracted wider attention with True or Falsetto? A Secret History of the Castrati , presented at the Edinburgh Festival [6] . Written by Time Out critic Lucy Powell, the show subsequently ran in London for two seasons and toured internationally in three languages [7] . This was followed by The Veiled Screen: A Secret History of Hollywood!, written by Tomasini and presented in two London runs in 2006 with support from the Arts Council of England [8] .

From 2013, following a six-year period largely devoted to music, Tomasini returned to theatre with a series of productions written specifically for him. These included Andrea Cusumano’s Petit Cheval Blanc (International Theatre Festival of Kerala, India, 2013), Roberta Torre’s Aida (Teatro Biondo, Palermo, 2014), Il Mutamento’s Mamma Schiavona (Teatro Astra, Turin, 2014), Lunaria (Napoli Teatro Festival and Italian tour, 2023) [9] . He also resumed wrtiting his own plays, like Beato chi ci crede (Teatro Out Off, Milan, 2017) [10] and he founded the first queer theatre company in Sicily, presenting the production La signora Palermo ha due figlie (Festival Teatro Bastardo, Palermo, 2024) [11] . His performance style has been described by critics as combining elements of Italian cabaret, avant-garde performance art and vaudeville [12] .

As an avant-garde comedian and cabaret artist, he has performed in theatres, museums, nightclubs and cultural institutes in 17 countries, and has collaborated with artists including Stephen Montague, Ron Athey [13] , Carlos Motta [14] and with the Resonance Radio Orchestra.

Tomasini has also been active in the fashion world, performing at runway shows by hat designer Nasir Mazhar during London Fashion Week in 2008 and 2009, and for Carlo Volpi at Pitti Uomo in 2017.

Music

For the past 18 years he has been lending his wide vocal range to experimental music, singing an eclectic repertoire written for him by a multitude of musicians, becoming an international cult figure. [15] He also performs a more classical repertoire, often alongside opera stars, in opera houses and concert halls. 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" [16] 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". [17]

In 2025 he returned to London's Crazy Coqs with a new recital and sang in Franco Maresco's Jazz nights at Teatro Santa Cecilia in Palermo. In 2024 he was singer and actor in “Derek Jarman’s Blue Live” by composer Simon Fisher Turner, at the National Cinema Museum in Turin, Italy. [18] In 2023 he took a new one-man concert to the Danae Festival in Milan and played a major role in the Franco Zeffirelli centenary production of Donizetti‘s “La fille du regiment”, at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, directed by Marco Gandini, musical direction Giuliano Carella, with John Osborn. [19] In 2022 he sang Cabaret chansons from the early 20th Century, directed by Omer Meir Wellber, at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and at the Toscanini Festival in Parma and Reggio Emilia. [20] In 2020 he was among the highlights at the end of year concert of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, also under the baton of maestro Wellber, alongside soprano Carmen Giannattasio and baritone Markus Werba. 2020 also saw the release of a second compilation album by the Lacerba label in which Ernesto appears alongside Myss Keta, Federico Fiumani, Mirco Magnani and others. [21]

Other collaborations include Marc Almond, the late "father of industrial music" [22] Peter Christopherson (founder of Coil, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV), [23] Current 93 (he was special guest at their first Queen Elizabeth Hall concert, alongside Anohni), [24] electronic producer 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), [25] producer Man Parrish (on two tracks in compilation albums, one with Joey Arias), [26] Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons), Andrew Liles (Nurse With Wound), [27] Rolo McGinty of The Woodentops, Spiritual Front, members of Larsen  [ it ], Othon, Adam Donen and José Macabra, with whom he opened the 2011 Drop Dead Festival in Berlin. [28] Tomasini is singer/songwriter of the prog-rock band Almagest!, with which he tours extensively, appearing in venues like the Volksbuehne in Berlin [29] and festivals like the Kurt Weill Fest. [30]

He has sung his repertoire in London venues like the Royal Albert Hall (main house and Elgar Room), 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 18 albums, six singles, six music videos and on the soundtrack of a film by Bruce LaBruce.

Radio, Cinema and TV

On radio he has sung, acted and been interviewed across all BBC stations, as well as on Classic FM, RAI Radio3, Radio Nacional de España, Radio New Zealand, Radiotelevisione svizzera and major broadcasters in France, Germany, Brazil and the US.

In film, he has appeared in features for Pathé and Universal Pictures, working with directors such as Alfonso Cuarón and Peter Hewitt. The short documentary Ernesto Tomasini: One Life to Live (2018) premiered on Dangerous Minds before being screened at the Sicilia Queer Filmfest, as part of a retrospective on his career. His Italian film debut came with Ciurè (2022), in which he plays a major role, followed by his leading performance in Quir (2024), an award-winning Swiss production, that premiered at the Taormina Film Festival ahead of its theatrical release in September 2025. [31] His latest film, Bravo Bene! , by Italian cinema maestro Franco Maresco, was in competition at the Venice Film Festival 2025. [32] As a voiceover artist, he has collaborated with Oscar-winning filmmakers like James Ivory, Ridley Scott, and Kevin Spacey.

His UK television work includes appearances on BBC, ITV, and Sky productions. In 2013 he was at the centre of the documentary Heavenly Voices – The Legacy of Farinelli (2013), performing alongside the world’s leading countertenors. In Italy, he has been frequently interviewed on RAI 3 about his theatrical work and, in April 2025, he appeared on the same channel, in the cast of Ricordando Letizia a short film by Franco Maresco.

In 2015, he was the face of the House of Fraser lipstick campaign, and in 2016, he starred in Symphony to a Lost Generation, the world’s first holographic opera.

Other

In 2012 he was included in the Theatre/Music section of Eccellenza Italiana (Italian Excellency, with presentation by the President of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano), for representing Italy in the world. [33] 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. [34]
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. [35]
His work and performance style are discussed in four books and an academic essay. [36]
For two years (2010–2012) Ernesto was the London correspondent of the Italian magazine Musical!. [37]

Discography

Bibliography

Selection of Work in Variety, Cabaret and Performance Art

Selection of Theatre Work

Selection of TV, Film and Radio Work

Selection of Concerts and Recitals

References

  1. ↑ Gottert, Michael (April 2010), "Ernesto Tomasini Interview (article)", Black Magazin, archived from the original on 8 July 2011
  2. ↑ Alaimo, Roberto (25 November 1988), Morte nella notte di Natale (article) Giornale di Sicilia
  3. ↑ Longo, Piero (1 September 1991), Si conclude domani con il Genio di Palermo Montepellegrino '91 (article) Giornale di Sicilia
  4. ↑ Shuttelworth, Ian (2 October 1996), Kemp's camp mime to music (article) Financial Times
  5. ↑ The Other Woman (article) Evening Standard , 10 June 1998
  6. ↑ Costa, Maddy (12 August 2002), True or Falsetto? (article) The Guardian
  7. ↑ Nicholson, Colin (14 April 2003), Hitting the high notes (article) Daily Mirror
  8. ↑ The Veiled Screen (article) Time Out , 5–12 April 2006
  9. ↑ La Repubblica 2023
  10. ↑ Vivi Milano Corriere della Sera 2017
  11. ↑ Teatro e Critica 2024
  12. ↑ Phillips, Giovanna (13 April 2006), Hollywood Unveiled (review) What's On
  13. ↑ De Ciuceis, Franco (8 June 2009), "Ron Athey, la body art come scena della crudeltà (article)", Il Mattino
  14. ↑ Torchia, Franco (14 October 2016), "Parte de tu religión (article)", Pagina12
  15. ↑ "La voce di Tomasini "perle nere" in falsetto (article)", La Repubblica, 20 February 2007
  16. ↑ Clare, Lenora (2008), "Naked City: Informer (article)", Frontiers , vol. 27, no. 2, archived from the original on 31 May 2008
  17. ↑ Campo, Alberto (16 April 2008), Threshold House, suoni e voci per Jarman (article) La Repubblica
  18. ↑ Rogatchevski, Ilia (29 July 2024), Signal To Noise Ratio: Simon Fisher Turner Interviewed (article) The Quietus
  19. ↑ "La fille du régiment – Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania (article)", Opera Libera, 20 October 2023
  20. ↑ Bonfrisco, Stella (26 May 2022), Il Festival Toscanini fa tappa alle Reggiane (article) Il Resto del Carlino
  21. ↑ Pasta, Rosanna (29 March 2016), "Ernesto Tomasini al debutto live Concerto al Teatro Biondo (article)", LeiSi
  22. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (28 November 2010), "Peter Christopherson Obituary (article)", The Guardian
  23. ↑ Ferrari, Paolo (11 April 2008), "La memoria dei Coil per Balance e Jarman (article)", La Stampa
  24. ↑ Diana, Barbara (September 2008), "Ernesto Tomasini, una voce extraordinaire (article)", Il Giornale della Musica, no. 251, archived from the original on 27 May 2009
  25. ↑ Sherburne, Philip (18 July 2016), "Shackleton Devotional Songs (article)", Pitchfork
  26. ↑ Nobile, Laura (8 October 2017), "Tomasini: Musical, dischi e poi torno a Palermo (article)", La Repubblica
  27. ↑ "Caprichos esquisitos (article)", La Vanguardia, 21 February 2007
  28. ↑ Sherburne, Philip (29 August 2011), "Festival: Kreativer Krach an der Schillingbrücke (article)", Berliner Morgen Post
  29. ↑ "Italienischer Theaterherbst (article)", Volksbuehne.de, October 2010, archived from the original on 4 September 2010
  30. ↑ Campo, Alberto (29 April 2009), "Brillano sul festival le stelle di Canes Venatici (article)", La Repubblica
  31. ↑ Inzerillo, Andrea (18 July 2024), "Della vita, dell'amore (article)", Il Manifesto
  32. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (22 August 2025), "Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein,' Benny Safdie's 'The Smashing Machine,' Kathryn Bigelow's 'A House of Dynamite' Among Stellar Venice Lineup (article)", The Hollywood Reporter
  33. ↑ "Eccellenza Italiana (article)", Eccellenze Italiane, 24 March 2012, archived from the original on 23 December 2014
  34. ↑ Comune di Palermo
  35. ↑ ADKronos
  36. ↑ Guarracino, Serena (Spring 2010), "Of Castrati, Angels and Simians (article)", Anglistica, archived from the original on 23 July 2012
  37. ↑ Tomasini, Ernesto (July–August 2010), "Con la voglia di sognare ancora (article)", Musical!
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