Leading Aircraftman Dean Bassett a 28 Squadron member, now singing for his supper in playhouses around Australia, has transferred to the Reserve after 10 years in the PAF, hoping to see his name up in the bright lights of Broadway.

An ex-Avionics Technician with 503 Wing and 33SQN, Dean had been singing for a lifetime, when he decided to enrol at the Canberra School of Music.

Currently one year into a Bachelor of Music, specialising in voice performance - involving classical singing, opera, acting and dance - Dean has performed in productions that include Godspell, Anything Goes, Les Miserables, Me and My Girl, 42nd Street and Evita, with the likes of Normie Rowe and Bernard King.

He then sang a principle role in a Mozart opera, Cosi fan tutte, directed by Julie Edwardson of Opera Australia, which opened at the Australian National University Playhouse mid July. Dean had not previously sung opera and described the production as 'a learning curve'.

'I had operatic singing lessons prior to production rehearsal and learnt the opera on that basis. I was able to draw on my experience in musical theatre and put into place certain acting skills.

'I don't think I was ready for it professionally; I had been singing well, until I got sick with a week to open. My performance was not what it could have been, with the last minute inclusion of the orchestra. However, I am keen to repeat the whole experience,' said Dean, like a true entertainer.

The opera's title means, in Italian, 'such are they all' - or in layman's terms, women are like that (fickle). The opera's story begins with the four main characters, two young officers Ferrando and Guglielmo and sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, who are hopelessly in love.

A Faustian character and an older friend of the men, Don Alfonso, establishes a bet with them - given all women are fickle, the sisters love would fail were someone else to make a play for them.

The men refuse to believe the women shallow and make the bet. They transform themselves into suave characters, and pursue their girlfriend's affections, disguised as strangers.

Each boyfriend plays the stranger to the opposite lover, and aided by the girls' maid Despina, achieve the twisted Don's scheme. In a 21st century contortion, the stage represented a beach, and the characters likened to hippies and beach babes, with Don Alfonso, a Rastafarian straight out of 'Jamaica mun'.

Dean hasn't been paid for a role to date, but like any 'starving artist' refuses to compromise his performance values - for love not money.

He explained the career he's chosen is leading him overseas in search of acclaim and more importantly, paid performance. 'London; Europe for that matter, and the States is definitely a draw, as there are far fewer opera companies in Australia.' He follows his dream of making it one day.

So if you've half a desire to catch the Reserve member in action, do it quickly - it's only a matter of time before Dean becomes another great Aussie export.

Story and photograph by Amber McKinnon