Auditorium Theatre 2021-2022, Issue 2, Too Hot to Handel

AUDITORIUM THEATRE :: 2021–22 SEASON | 17 Biographies KAREN MARIE RICHARDSON, Alto Karen Marie Richardson is a songwriter, vocal arranger, actress, educator, and musician and a Chicago native who is known nationally for her vocals. She has performed in Too Hot to Handel as the alto soloist at the Auditorium Theatre and Detroit Opera House for the last 11 seasons. She is currently starring in the Off-Broadway sensation Sleep No More as jazz chanteuse Stella Sinclair, where she has sung duets with P!nk and John Legend. She can also be seen as the Canteen Chanteuse in the movie adaptation of the Michael John Lachiusa musical Hello Again. She appeared on television in 2015 and 2016, vocally supporting Grammy Award-nominated artist Andra Day on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Wendy Williams Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and Live With Kelly. She was featured in the pilot episode of Vinyl on HBO, directed by Martin Scorsese. She is one of the few artists to perform in Duke Ellington’s Queenie Pie in the title role (at the Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater). She portrayed the Queen of Night in the Baz Dazzled series at Barneys New York under the direction of Baz Luhrmann. She can also be seen on YouTube as a featured vocalist in a few viral videos. She holds a BFA in musical theatre from Millikin University. ALVIN B. WADDLES, Piano Alvin Waddles is a native Detroiter. An alum of the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan School of music, he returned home to immerse himself in the rich musical culture of the city. His performance style has been described as eclectic, inspiring, instantly recognizable and deeply personal, earning him the moniker “A Detroit Original.” Waddles has delighted Detroit music lovers with performances at a variety of musical events including the Detroit International Jazz Festival, the Michigan Jazz Festival, and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. He has appeared as a soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra and the Rochester Symphony. Mr. Waddles’ engagements as a soloist and featured artist have taken him to a variety of destinations including Barbados, Beijing, Vienna, London, Paris, Barcelona, and Ghana. He has also traveled extensively as musical director/ pianist for Cook, Dixon, and Young. He has been blessed to work with many great artists including Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, George Shirley, Brazeal Dennard, Jack Jones, and Thomas Whitfield. SUZANNE MALLARE ACTON, Conductor Suzanne Mallare Acton is known for her versatility and dynamic style, with a repertoire that ranges from opera to jazz. For Michigan Opera Theatre, Acton’s conducting credits include West Side Story, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, The Music Man, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, La Bohème, Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, A Little Night Music, The Daughter of the Regiment, Carmina Burana with members of the Cirque du Soleil, The Medium, View from the Bridge, Frida, and Les Pêcheurs de Perles. Additional opera credits include My Fair Lady and La Traviata for Dayton Opera; The Merry Widow and Madama Butterfly for Artpark; La Traviata, Gianni Schicchi and L’Elisir D’Amore for Verdi Opera Theatre; Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata, and Carmen for the Wharton Center; Cavalleria Rusticana for Friends of the Opera; and Tosca for Augusta Opera. Symphonic concerts include the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, the Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra, The Lexington Bach Festival, the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, and the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. During Acton’s tenure as Artistic Director of Detroit’s Rackham Choir, the choir was awarded the 2008 Governor’s Award for Arts & Culture under her leadership. She has been named by Corp! Magazine as one of Michigan’s 95 Most Powerful Women. BILL FRAHER, Too Hot Choir Director Bill Fraher is a native of rural Illinois who has been making music since he was a child and conducting choirs since high school. He has served as pianist, organist, music director, and worship director at churches in St. Louis, Oakland, San Francisco, and the Chicago area. He was Director of Music at Chicago’s historic Old St. Patrick’s Church from 1991 to 2013. During that time, the music program expanded to include numerous liturgical choirs as well as a number of concert choirs that delighted audiences not only at Old St. Patrick’s Church, but at Chicago’s Symphony Center; Galway, Ireland’s Arts Festival; the Auditorium Theatre; and the National Concert Hall of Ireland in Dublin. During his tenure, commissioned works came from Ireland’s Shaun Davey, Noel Eccles, and Liam Lawton and from Chicago’s Rory Cooney, Gary Fry, Scott Stevenson, and Ben Wedge. From 2013 to 2020 he continued at Old St. Patrick’s Church as Creator, Music Director, and Producer of Deck the Hall and Siamsa na nGael: A Celebration Of The Celtic Arts. Some of the programs he created along with Mary Evers, Mary Pat Kelly, and David and Patti Kovacs were If It Wasn’t For The Irish and the Jews; The Most Dangerous Woman in America: