Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Issue 7 Fire Shut Up My Bones

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 23 CALVIN GRIFFIN | ADULT ROBERT Lyric debut The bass-baritone made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Adult Robert in Fire Shut Up in My Bones . Also this season, Griffin returns to Wolf Trap Opera (Death/ Sa¯vitri ) and Opera Columbus (Tommy/ Fellow Travelers ), and will debut with Spoleto Festival as Colline in La bohème . In the 2020/21 season, he returned to The Atlanta Opera as Dancaïro in Carmen , and made his Opera Theatre of Saint Louis debut as Simone in Gianni Schicchi and the Narrator in On the Battlefield of Broken Hearts. His 2019/20 season included the title role in Le nozze di Figaro with Florentine Opera, and Brühlmann in Werther in his Metropolitan Opera debut. He has appeared also with Florida Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Opera Birmingham. In 2017, Griffin returned to the Glimmerglass Festival as Elviro in Xerxes and the Undertaker in Porgy and Bess . LEROY DAVIS | PASTOR / KABOOM Previously at Lyric: Jailer/ Tosca , and Sunday in the Park with Lyric’s Rising Stars (both 2021/22) Baritone Leroy Davis is a second-year member of the Ryan Opera Center. Recent company debuts include Lincoln Center Theater as George Armstrong in the world premiere of Intimate Apparel ; Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Pastor, Layabout Man, James, Kaboom/ Fire Shut Up in My Bones (world premiere) as a Gerdine Young Artist; the Phoenicia Festival as Belcore/ The Elixir of Love ; Boston Opera Collaborative as Leporello/ Don Giovanni ; and Odyssey Opera as Ernesto Malcom/ Maria, regina d’Inghilterra . Davis was also seen as the Forester/ The Cunning Little Vixen , Hannah Before/ As One , Joe St. George/ Dolores Claiborne , and Pablo Picasso/ After Life at Boston University’s Opera Institute. Other credits include Maximilian/ Candide as an Apprentice Artist with Chautauqua Opera; Aeneas and Adonis/ Dido and Aeneas , Papageno/ The Magic Flute , Fiorello/ The Barber of Seville , and Maitre D’ and Farley/ Sister Carrie (world premiere and recording) as a Studio Artist at Florentine Opera; the Mandarin and Ping/ Turandot with Shreveport Opera; and bass soloist for Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Leroy Davis is sponsored by the Elizabeth F.Cheney Foundation. BRITTANY RENEE | EVELYN Lyric debut The soprano made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Evelyn in Fire Shut Up in My Bones . She appeared as Annie in the Met’s Porgy & Bess , which won Best Opera Recording at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, and made her Carnegie Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Musica Sacra Chorus & Orchestra. She has appeared at Opera Orlando (Micaëla/ Carmen ) and Teatro Regio Torino (Bess/ Porgy & Bess ). She has performed with Opera San Jose, Knoxville Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Salt Marsh Opera, Piedmont Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Crested Butte Music Festival, The Handel Choir of Baltimore, Opera Theatre of the Rockies, and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. International debuts have included performances at the Semperoper Dresden; The Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Israel; the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Italy; The Magnetic Opera Festival in Elba, Italy; and Opera on the Avalon in Canada. REHANNA THELWELL | RUBY / SINNER Lyric debut In 2019, Thelwell appeared at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Giovanna in Rigoletto and Ruby in Fire Shut Up in My Bones . The New Jersey native returned to the Cafritz Young Artist program of Washington National Opera for their 2020/21 season, where she had previously appeared as Third Lady in the Young Artist production of The Magic Flute as well as Conchetta in the American Opera Initiative new work, Night Trip . She has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, and Madison Opera, and made her her mainstage debut with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Aunt Lou in Highway 1, U.S.A . OLEODE OSHOTSE | YOUNG NATHAN Lyric debut The Houston, Texas, native appeared as Young Nathan in Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Metropolitan Opera. He has appeared in productions at Stages Repertory Theatre, at Houston’s The Queensbury Theatre, and at The Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. At The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, he recently appeared in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time .