'Korps Brajd' panto ends with a real-life marriage proposal

The final performance of the Maltese pantomime Korps Brajd ended with an unexpected and heartwarming twist, when lead actress Karyn Fleri Soler was left speechless as her partner got down on one knee and proposed to her.

Her partner, Juan Degiorgio, surprised her when he walked on stage at the St Aloysius Theatre in Birkirkara and proposed in front of a packed house.

The special moment was recorded and shared on social media by Degiorgio. Instead of the usual final bow, Fleri Soler was called to centre stage, where Degiorgio joined her and said:

"They say you're always the bridesmaid, but never the bride, but from today, that changes," he says. 

Cheers erupted from the audience and fellow actors as Fleri Soler looked on, stunned.

As her partner got on one knee and proposed, the actress nodded 'yes'.  

The video was posted online with the caption: From the Corpse Bride to my bride.

"The perfect moment"

Speaking to Times of Malta, Degiorgio, 28, said the idea of proposing has been on his mind for a while, but he was waiting for the right moment. 

The couple, both teachers, will be celebrating their seventh anniversary in March.

Degiorgio said that Fleri Soler always wished for the proposal to be something meaningful in the presence of friends and family if possible.

The opportunity came when Fleri Soler, 26, was cast as the lead in Korps Brajd, a Maltese adaptation of Tim Burton’s 2005 film Corpse Bride, which he said is her favourite film.

"I spoke to her father, who is also the director of the production, and asked if it would be possible to make it happen during the panto. With the help of family and friends, we managed to plan everything in secret and make it possible."

Degiorgio was working backstage as part of the crew and felt "incredibly anxious" and overwhelmed before stepping on stage in front of a full audience.

"But the moment I stepped on the stage, the anxiety disappeared, and everything went exactly as planned. I honestly couldn't have imagined a more meaningful or perfect way to ask her to marry me."

Korps Brajd was staged at the St Aloysius theatre in Birkirkara on December 30 and January 2, 3 and 4.

Produced by the Silvio Fleri Soler Theatre Foundation, the production gave a colourful Maltese twist to Burton's 2005 fantasy story. The story sees a shy young man, Victor, whisked away to the underworld and wed to the mysterious Emily, while his real bride, Victoria, is left waiting for him in the land of the living.