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Allegra
Beaucarne |
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Full Name ··· Allegra Clare Beaucarne (née Ansell)
Date of Birth ··· 21 December 1984 (24)
Resides In ··· Notting Hill (London, England)
Sexuality ··· Heterosexual
Marital Status ··· Married to ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) beaucarne, 6 March 2004
Education ··· Guildhall School of Music and Drama; she was a vocal performance major, with a concentration in Opera Studies.
Occupation ··· Sings soprano with the English National Opera; also teaches basic piano, mainly to preschool and early primary school-aged children out of the home.
Favourite Saying ··· "Music is love in search of a word." - Sidonie Gabrielle
AIM ··· madama allegra
Played By ··· Romola Garai
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Information ··· When she was 7 years old, Allegra was taken to the Royal Opera House to see a production of Puccini's, Madama Butterfly. Ranking second only to her wedding day, Allegra considers this one of the most life-changing experiences she's had - this was when opera singing became a life goal for her.
··· It is one of her major goals, to be accepted into the Covent Garden Opera Company, the ensemble that sings in the Royal Opera House. Realising this goal, however, terrifies her beyond belief.
··· Perhaps an offshoot of the abovementioned production (or perhaps just a "thing"), Allegra adores all things butterfly - wind chimes, knick knacks, hair pins, earrings, you name it.
··· Conditioned from a young age, both to be conscious of the care she takes for her voice and to embody the utmost definition of a lady, Allegra will never be caught raising her voice to anyone, even when she is quite angry.
··· Ever the optimist, Allegra much prefers greeting the world with a smile on her face to bogging down in negative details, so in spite of any tendencies she has to be rather stubborn and opinionated at times, she much prefers laughter and playful tricks (playing them and even finding herself on the receiving end, occasionally!) to bogging down for any reason.
··· Rather an old-fashioned type, she takes a great degree of pride in the fact that when she is not at work on a production, by the time her husband comes home each evening, the house is filled with the smell of a home-cooked meal prepared for the two of them to enjoy together.
··· Her favourite number is three.
··· At the top of her class in diction, Allegra can sing near flawlessly in Italian, French, and German in addition to her native English. Conversely? The only language apart from her native tongue in which she is vaguely proficient is French ... though she will maintain she is absolute rubbish. Can you blame her? She's married a Frenchman!
··· She's never tried any manner of drugs, and though it makes her practically an endangered species in Britain, she's never had a smoke either. Now and again she will drink, though she is the definition of the term "lightweight." Bad news for her in the morning, but certainly entertainment for those around her!
··· Also, given the fact that she is terrified of needles, Allegra has not a single tattoo or piercing on her body, save her ears, which are pierced.
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Biography Born the only child of Robert and Amelia Ansell, Allegra has led a rather charmed life thus far - and a life filled to the brim with music. Robert, 28 at the time of her birth, was a classically trained tenor, though in spite of his enormous talent, a phobia of solo performance in front of an audience has kept him away from pursuing professional opera himself. Instead, it was only a few months prior to Allegra's birth that Robert landed his position with Trinity College of Music, where he teaches voice lessons, diction and directs choral ensembles to this day. Amelia (or more affectionately, Milly) was 25 when she found out she was to become a mother, and at the time she was making quite the name for herself performing as a pianist. A rather family-oriented and old fashioned woman, Amelia gave up her career in favour of raising her child, opting to teach piano lessons out of the home as a source of supplementary income once Allegra was old enough to entertain herself and keep (mostly) out of trouble for a few hours out of each day.
It was a rather conscious choice for Milly and Robert, to avoid having any more children after Allegra. True, they did feel for her - she would be raised without knowing a thing of the bond between siblings, but she did have many cousins, with whom they hoped she might make satisfactory bonds instead. Though they certainly could not be considered royalty, the Ansell family were well enough to do - Allegra started formal piano lessons before she attended primary school, and she was in voice lessons by the age of six. In addition, as Allegra grew old enough to understand the significance of such things, her parents took her along with them on regular trips to the historical arts hot spots in Europe. She has vivid memories of childhood visits to Rome, Venice, Florence, Vienna and Paris, to name a few, and these are some of her most-favoured destinations for vacation plans even to this day.
She was exposed to music performance regularly from the time she was very small - her parents would each make a point to show up to the various recitals and performances of the other's students, and rather than hiring a minder for Allegra, they felt it was a more valuable experience for her to attend these things. She was well-versed in concert etiquette by the time she was a mere 4 years old, and her parents love to share the embarrassing stories of her not-so coy approach of rude audience members from a young age. Her first trip to the Opera was at the age of seven, when her parents took her to see Puccini's Madame Butterfly. True, she was too young to understand the subject matter and to this day speaks not a bit of functional Italian, but the unsaid beauty had a profound and lasting effect on Allegra.
Until high school, Allegra was a product of public schooling. Her parents were afraid, given their decision to raise her as an only child and the fact that she was so involved in the study of music that she might miss out on the "normal" experiences involved with growing up - this was their answer. On the suggestion of her voice teacher, Allegra completed a successful audition into the Musical Theatre division of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. It was only during her time there that Allegra was finally able to overcome a fear of public performance, which her father seemed to so graciously pass down to his daughter. LAMDA, after all, was a much more competitive environment than those she'd grown accustomed to over the years - either she made a name for herself early, made herself heard, or she would likely be sent packing.
Passing all of her examinations with flying colours, it was no surprise that Allegra was accepted easily after auditions and ready letters of recommendation from her instructors into the music program at the Guildhall School of Music, where, from Fall Semester 2001 through the Spring of 2005, Allegra studied vocal performance with a concentration in Opera Studies. Her time at university was the first substantial stretch that she'd spent away from her parents, and it was a valued experience in learning how to socialize properly with kids her own age - sure, she had a handful of close friends from primary school onward, but college friends are another breed entirely.
Taking up a job as a barista/waitress in a cafe not far from campus, this would be Allegra's first and only experience working in a "regular" job, and it came during her second year at university. She will maintain to this day that it was mostly a horrible experience for her, given her complete lack of grace and skill for interface with the public. However, it was this very same "horrible experience," and perhaps the lack of grace and skill to boot that brought her husband into her life. A regular patron of this very same cafe, Archard (Archie) Beaucarne was the unfortunate victim of Allegra's first day serving customers in this cafe. Natural for a Frenchman, Archie had a simply endless supply of charm, and in spite of the fact that this very same charm landed Allegra's nervous, unsure hand to upend a scalding hot cup of coffee straight into his lap, he was proposing marriage before he knew a thing about her, save what was written on her name tag.
Some days she would give an awkward laugh, an eye roll and an acceptance of his proposals and on more flustered days (usually when he teased her about their unfortunate first encounter), she would give a curt, "No thanks, sir," and return to her responsibilities with other tables - after the first day, she was no longer allowed to serve Mr. Beaucarne, but the staff were certainly aware of their funny manner of getting along. One thing that never changed, however, was her dismissal of each attempt he made to take her out - dinner, theatre, museums ... certainly he did try to find out where her interests laid, but it was a task easier said than done. It was not until a dance, put together by some friends at school and consisting of brass big band/jazz music came up that Allegra finally tucked away her pride and this time she approached Archie, mumbling and eyes averted in every which direction through an invite as her date. After all, it was either Archie, this "creep" from work or a different, very real creep from school and ... well. The creep from work had a dreamy accent and shined up rather nicely, if she did say so herself. After this evening in particular, Allegra could no longer deny a terrible fondness for this fellow and she ceased declining each of his invitations that came her way. In fact, she looked forward to them.
It was during the latter half of her third year in school that Allegra was one of a lucky few to be accepted into the Young Singers Programme with the English National Opera. A great deal of her vocal studies in her final two years of school were completed through this programme, and it was as a result of her successful instruction and her experience with the English National Opera that after she completed her degree, Allegra was able to accept a position she holds today as a soprano among their ranks. Additionally, it was during this time that Allegra became Mrs. Archard Beaucarne, on 6 March 2004. Though their courting and subsequent engagement did not last a particularly long time before they tied the knot, Allegra considers Archie just as much the love of her life after five and a half years of marriage as she did the day they were married, in spite of her parents' initial cautious approach toward the union.
Today, Allegra and Archard share a home in Notting Hill, and they are very much a modernised version of the "classic" television couple - happily married, quirky, and when she is not at work on an ENO production, Allegra is rather content with her role as a housewife. She is constantly seeking out new recipes and doing everything she can to improve her standby favourites and like her mother, she has taken up the occupation of teaching small children piano from home to fill some of the spare time. Their house is not the particular picture of immaculate organisation, given two artistic personalities and Archie's penchant for picking up the most random articles (see also, clutter if you were to ask Allegra) he intends to use for work, but you would not know a word of it if you happened to be in attendance for one of their regular dinner parties.
Storylines Archard ("Archie") Beaucarne ( beaucarne) ··· Allegra's husband, and she considers him to be her best friend. Though she is fully unaware of the infidelities that have been taking place from the start, she's neither dim nor the "victim" of what's going on unbeknownst to her. She feels she learns more about him all the time, makes fun of his ineptness with all things technological and hey - if she has to be a sport through the holidays and exercise her horrid French, he has to come along with her and exercise his "vocal abilities" caroling each year, much to his chagrin. Klouver ("Vera") Chevalier ( klouver) ··· Archard's younger cousin, this makes Vera an in-law to Allegra, and she's adored the girl from the day the two met! Due both to her fondness for the girl and the fact that Allegra is aware of how very important family is to her husband, she is constantly finding ways to be sure that Vera has everything she needs - she will invite her over early during their weekly visits for dinner in order to take her grocery shopping, or she will "just happen" to have picked up a jacket or something of the like in Vera's size to pass along when she is over at the house. In addition, Vera helps Allegra improve her French, while giving sending her husband the "raised eyebrow" hints each time she uses the name Klouver prefers to be called. Mary Clarke ( marymay) ··· A fellow graduate of Guildhall, though Allegra is two years Mary's senior, through various social events and ensemble work they formed an easy friendship. Mary is certainly welcome to dinner in the Beaucarne household any time she likes and she knows it, and the two have been known to frequent galleries and of course terrorise the general population on shopping trips as often as they're able. Tristan Everard ( teverard) ··· Over six years ago now, Tristan and Allegra were set up on a blind date by a friend the two had in common. The picture of odd nerves and awkward conversation, Tristan was a cool 20 years old and Allegra not much older than 18. He a very science-minded person and she a musician lucky to have passed her basic intro courses in the realm of maths and science, it took to the walk home before finally, finally Allegra spoke up and called the entire "date" business of the evening to an end. He's a gorgeous, lovely man with whom she's shared plenty of laughs, and Allegra's been happy to call him her friend ever since.
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Out of Character Heather. 22 years old. EST. Prefers threading; PMs/IMs welcome.
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