Just read in today's news that dramatic soprano Deborah Voight has staged a  return to London's Royal Opera House after being dropped from a production of Ariadne Auf Naxos 4 years ago. Then director, Christof Loy, felt that the large opera singer would not fit into a little black dress he had designed for the title role. Voight has since shed more than 100 pounds through the rather drastic medium of gastric surgery and more importantly, kept the luscious voice that made her famous in the first place.

Fortunately, Voight hasn't lost her sense of humour and has released a Youtube video capturing "The return of the Little Black Dress", with the animated dress playing the role of the shamefaced lover asking for a second chance. View it here.

Voight's original firing raised hackles as it was a blatant case of discrimination on the basis of looks. While prevalent in most of the entertainment industry, opera has always prized luscious vocals over uuh, overly-luscious figures. Perhaps the distance of the average viewer from the stage helps foster illusions when sprightly youths are played by geriartric tenors and nymphs by those of more goddess-like proportions. P personally however, would always pick vocal quality over appearance in opera and musical theatre, but of course, there are limits to stretching credibility, particularly when movement is affected.

Of more concern to P are the long-term effects of drastic weight-loss and the possibility of yo-yoing a la Oprah. If Voight manages to keep the weight off and stay healthy, then P commends her. That being said, however, P would never contemplate that kind of surgery herself.

Would you?