Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 14 West Side Story

P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 26 | May 3 - June 2, 2019 CORINNE WALLACE-CRANE, a Roosevelt University alumna, sang the Second Nightmaid/ My Fair Lady at Lyric during the 2016/17 season. She has partici- pated in the young-artist pro- grams of Sarasota Opera (Tisbe/ La Cenerentola , Dame Quickly/ Falstaff, Giovanna/ Rigoletto ), Natchez Opera Festival, and Central City Opera (featured roles in Vanessa and L’incoronazione di Poppea – she subsequently returned as a featured artist to sing Assunta/ e Saint of Bleecker Street ). She portrayed Madame de la Haltiere/ Cendrillon with Chicago’s Petite Opera. She has also been heard at Chamber Opera Chicago and Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera. RONWATKINS , a Lyric Opera Chorus member since 1992, has performed seven solo roles at Lyric, most recently in Der Rosenkavalier , e King and I (both 2015/16), and Carousel (2014/15). He has also appeared at DuPage Opera eatre as Marcello/ La bohème, at the Grant Park Music Festival as Samuel/ e Pirates of Penzance , and at Light Opera Works as Captain Corcoran/ HMS Pinafore and Sir Richard Cholmondeley/ e Yeomen of the Guard , as well as with Chicago Opera eater, Madison’s Opera for the Young, Eastman Opera eater, and College LightOperaCompany inFalmouth,Massachusetts. SHERRY WATKINS just completed her 21st season at Lyric. Her appearances during past Lyric seasons have included such roles as Pepík/ e Cunning Little Vixen (company premiere), First Madrigalist/ Manon Lescaut , and A Woman/William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge (world premiere). Also at Lyric, she has appeared in the ensembles of six musicals, most recently Jesus Christ Superstar and My Fair Lady. Watkins also performs with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, is soprano soloist at Second Presbyterian Church, and has performed roles with Intimate Opera, Petite Opera, and concerts with the Lakeshore Symphony Orchestra. NIKOLAS WENZEL ( u/s Krupke ), a member of the Lyric Opera Chorus since the 2016/17 season, has been heard in solo roles in four Lyric productions, most recently La traviata . e bass has also appeared with Lyric Unlimited as Sarastro/ e Magic Flute . Among his other appearances have been Dead Man Walking and Tosca (Madison Opera) and Das Rheingold (Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis). Wenzel is an alumnus of the young-artist programs of Opera eatre of Saint Louis ( Alice in Wonderland, Carmen ) and Chicago Opera eater ( Médée ), and a three-time Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions regional nalist. MICHELLE WRIGHTE is an alumna of Lyric’s professional artist-training program, e Ryan Opera Center, with which she created the role of Lucy Cross/Michael John LaChiusa’s Lovers and Friends . Prominent among the mezzo-soprano’s six mainstage roles at Lyric have been Emilia/ Otello , Mercédès/ Carmen, and the Tango Singer/ e Great Gatsby (company premiere). Other credits include Cherubino/ e Marriage of Figaro (Chicago’s Opera Piccola), Isabella/ L’italiana in Algeri (Pamiro Opera), Armindo/ Partenope (Glimmerglass Festival), Ino/ Semele (Spoleto Festival), Dinah/ Trouble in Tahiti (Tampa Opera), Ramiro/ La finta giardiniera (San Francisco Opera Center), and the Fox/ e Cunning Little Vixen (Tulsa Opera). Understudies SAM SIMAHK ( u/s Tony ) made his Lyric debut during the 2015/16 season as Lun a/ e King and I and his Broadway debut last season as Captain Watson/ Carousel . He has also appeared in national tours of e King and I and Miss Saigon . O -Broadway perfor- mances include Alvaro Vigna/ Icon , Abraham/ Sweetie , and Mihai/ Blind . His extensive regional credits include productions at eatre Under the Stars (Curly/ Oklahoma! ), Ocean State eatre Company (as Lun a), Rocky Mountain Rep (Enoch Snow/ Carousel ), Lyric Stage Company of Boston (four featured roles, among them Anthony/ Sweeney Todd ), Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and Ogunquit Playhouse. He appeared in Ragtime on Ellis Island, has sung the National Anthem at Boston’s Fenway Park, and has appeared in “Broadway’s Future Songbook” and “American Songbook,” both at New York’s Lincoln Center. VANESSA BECERRA ( u/s Maria ), who portrayed Miss Lightfoot/ Fellow Travelers in Lyric Unlimited’s production last season, has been featured at the Glimmerglass Festival as Bernstein’s Maria, as well as Laurey/ Oklahoma! and Musetta/ La bohème . e soprano is an alumna of LA Opera’s Domingo- Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. Appearances with that company include e Magic Flute, e Marriage of Figaro, La traviata, and e Ghosts of Versailles. While in the program, Becerra was a Regional nalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the recipient of a top award from the Pasadena Opera Guild. Recent highlights include debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Papagena/ e Magic Flute ), the San Francisco Symphony Paquette/ Candide ), Opera San José (title role/Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella ), Glauce/ Medea (Opera Omaha), and Johanna/ Sweeney Todd (Atlanta Opera). OLIVIA BARBIERI * ( Female Swing, Assistant Choreographer ) has appeared in West Side Story as Graziella (The Kennedy Center), Teresita ( e Glimmerglass Festival), and Francisca (Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Atlanta Opera). Other Glimmerglass perfor- mance credits include Dream Laurey and Sylvie in Oklahoma! , and a principal dancer in Candide , e Cunning Little Vixen , and e Magic Flute . Barbieri choreographed Francesca Zambello’s production of e Barber of Seville at Glimmerglass and has toured to Bordeaux and Toulouse as a principal dancer in Zambello’s production of Candide . She earned a B. F. A. degree in musical theater at Syracuse University. MATTHEW STERITI* ( Male Swing, Dance Captain ) has appeared in Francesca Zambello’s West Side Story production at Atlanta Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City (portraying Big Deal) and the Glimmerglass Festival (portraying Pepe). He earned a B. F. A. degree in musical theater at Syracuse University, where he appeared in many productions and was featured in Crazy for You and Ragtime . He has portrayed Rapunzel’s Prince/ Into the Woods (Stoneham eater in Massachusetts) and Scott / Dear Edwina (Quisiana Resort in Maine), and has performed in the ensembles of Mary Poppins (Syracuse Stage) and My Fair Lady (Syracuse Opera). Production Team JAMES LOWE ( Conductor ) debuted at Lyric in 2012/13 leading Oklahoma!. On Broadway he was music director and con- ductor of the recent revival of Les Misérables and the revival of Anything Goes (Grammy nomi- nation), starring Sutton Foster. Lowe made his Broadway debut conducting Gypsy , starring Patti LuPone. He led the rst national tour of e Light in the Piazza , and was music director and conduc- tor for the touring National eatre production of My Fair Lady . Operatic engagements this season include La bohème (Houston Grand Opera), Jeanine Tesori's e Lion, e Unicorn, and Me (Washington), Show Boat (Glimmerglass Festival), and Rachel Portman’s e Little Prince (Utah Opera). Lowe has also appeared at the San Francisco, Tulsa, New York City, and Wolf Trap opera companies. His close relationship with Houston Grand Opera includes productions of works of Mozart, Bizet, Copland, Sondheim, Portman, and Heggie. He debuted in Europe with Candide (Toulouse, subsequently Bordeaux). Lowe has also led the Houston Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and American Composers Orchestra. He has performed as piano soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and has given recitals at such distinguished venues