Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 2- Fiddler #1

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 26 MICHAEL NIGRO | FYEDKA Lyric debut Nigro was featured as Patrick in the national tour of Radio City Christmas Spectacular . He played Friedrich Von Trapp in NBC’s Sound of Music Live and Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island at the Fulton Theater; he reprised that role and also played Barnaby Tucker in Hello Dolly! at Maine State Music Theater. DAVID BENOIT | LAZAR WOLF Lyric debut Benoit most recently appeared as Bob Mattey in Seattle Rep’s Bruce , about the making of the movie Jaws . He appeared in the Broadway and national tours of Les Misérables (Thenardier), Avenue Q (Nicky/ Trekkie), Jekyll and Hyde (Bishop/Spider), and Dance of the Vampires . Additional national tours include Phantom of the Opera (Firmin), All Shook Up (Sheriff Earl), Young Frankenstein (Inspector Kemp/ Blind Hermit), Forbidden Broadway , and Forbidden Hollywood . Off-Broadway appearances include Forbidden Broadway: Summer Shock! , Forbidden Broadway: 10th Anniversary , and Forever Plaid (Sparky). He previously appeared as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof for Virginia Rep, and in Boston Lyric Opera’s Martin Guerre (The Priest). JOY HERMALYN | YENTE Lyric debut Hermalyn recently appeared on Broadway as Grandma Gellman in the Tony-nominated revival of Caroline, or Change . Other Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof (Fruma/Yente), Cyrano the Musical (Chaperone), Christmas Carol (Mrs. Fezziwig), Candide , and Baz Luhrmann’s La bohème . Regional appearances include Cabaret , Souvenir , Gypsy , Sweeney Todd , Oliver! , and Beauty and the Beast . Hermalyn sangMinnie in La fanciulla del West in repertory with Abigail Adams/ 1776 at Utah Festival Opera. Other opera credits include La lle du régiment, Le Comte Ory, Rigoletto, Il trittico, Madama Butter y, La bohème (Leoncavallo), Faust, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Fledermaus, Trouble in Tahiti, and Hansel and Gretel, and she has toured widely in the major Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. She was a featured performer in Sound of Music Live! on NBC and in Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic for Live from Lincoln Center on PBS, and has sung at Avery Fisher, Carnegie, and the Royal Albert Halls. LILIANA RENTERIA | SHPRINTZE Lyric debut Renteria’s theater credits include The Polar Express (Rail Event Productions), Matilda (Drury Lane Theater), Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life (Theater at the Center), Sunday in the Park with George , and Merrily We Roll Along (Chicago Academy for the Arts), and Billy Elliot (Highland Park Players). She appeared at Lyric as Witch/ Macbeth (2021/22), and Child/Crocodile/ The Magic Flute and Les Troyens (both 2016/17). OMI LICHTENSTEIN | BIELKE Lyric debut Lichtenstein recently appeared as Brigitta in The Sound of Music (The Marriott Theatre) and as Little Girl in Ragtime (Music Theater Works). Hailing from the North Shore of Chicago, Omi trains regularly at The Performer’s School. JACKSON EVANS | MENDEL Previously at Lyric: Harry & Charles/ My Fair Lady (2016/17). Evans’ regional credits include Beauty and the Beast (Paramount Theater—Jeff nomination); Boys in the Band (Windy City Playhouse); Ride the Cyclone , Seussical , and SS! The Taming of the Shrew (Chicago Shakespeare); Matilda and Spamalot (Drury Lane Oakbrook); Bunny Bunny and Avenue Q (Mercury); Peter and the Starcatcher and The Full Monty (Peninsula Players); Dad’s Season Tickets (Milwaukee Rep); Singin’ in the Rain (Marriott Lincolnshire); The Producers (McLeod Summer Playhouse); as well as work with Victory Gardens, Theatre at the Center, and About Face. Evans toured in The Realish Housewives with Second City, and lm and television credits include Christmas is Canceled , Chicago PD , and Sirens . TOMMY NOVAK | AVRAM Lyric debut Novak, a Chicago native, was nominated for a Jeff Award for playing Max Bialystok in Night Blue’s production of The Producers . Other credits include Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors (Mercury Theater Chicago), Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (Skylight Music Theater), Mr. Braithwaite in Billy Elliot and Fatso O’Rear in Do Re Mi (Porchlight), Anthony Dull in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Salisbury in King John (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man , Baptisa Minola in The Taming of the Shrew (Arkansas Shakespeare Theater), and Sam the Snowman in Rudolph and Friar Tuck in Robin Hood (First Stage). Novak has toured nationally as an actor with Utah Shakespeare Festival as well as Arkansas Shakespeare Theater. STEVEN STRAFFORD | MORDCHA Lyric debut Strafford is an actor and playwright. He played Prince Herbert in Spamalot (Original Vegas Cast) and appeared in the national and international tours of Peter Pan , Cinderella , and Grease! In Chicago, he has appeared at the Goodman, About Face Theatre, Windy City Playhouse, Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, and First Folio. He has played men, women, rivers, giraffes, and aliens. His plays Small Jokes About Monsters , Greater Illinois , The Match Game , Mona Quimby: Age 38 , and The Model Congressman have been produced and workshopped around the country.