Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 3- Fiddler #2

27 | Lyric Opera of Chicago WILLIAM BROWN | CONSTABLE Lyric debut Brown has acted in more than 100 productions, including work at Writers Theatre, Court, Goodman, Northlight, Marriott Lincolnshire, Cincinnati Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Ahmanson, NY Public, and Regina Opera. Favorite roles include Falstaff in Henry IV (Court), Fagin in Oliver! (Marriott), Jody in the world premiere of Lonely Planet (Northlight), and Kissinger in Nixon’s Nixon (Writers Theatre). At Writers Theatre he has directed 17 plays including Company , The Liar , A Little Night Music , and Incident at Vichy . He is an Associate Artist at TimeLine where he directed the world premiere of Wasteland , the Midwest premiere of Not About Nightingales , and the world premiere of To Master the Art —a play co-written with Doug Frew about Julia Child’s early years in Paris. Brown has received three Joseph Jefferson Awards and a Spirit of Diversity Award from Actor’s Equity. MELODY BETTS | GRANDMA/ FRUMA SARAH Lyric debut Betts has appeared on Broadway in Waitress and with a national tour of The Sound of Music (Mother Abbess). Her numerous regional credits include The Rain Lady in Witness Uganda/Invisible Thread (2012-2015), The Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Rep, 2010-2012), Sylvia in All Shook Up (Marriott Theater) and The Courtesan in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of A Comedy Of Errors . She appeared in the Jeff Award-winning production of Ragtime as Sarah’s Friend. Television credits include Chicago Code , Chicago PD , Chicago Fire , HBOMax’s Southside , Power on STARZ and Jesus Christ Superstar LIVE on NBC. ED KROSS | NACHUM Previously at Lyric: Glad Hand/ West Side Story (2018/19). The actors stage credits include The Jungle Book and Animal Crackers (The Goodman), Hazel (Drury Lane Oakbrook), Sister Act and Shear Madness (Mercury Theater), I Love Lucy: Live Onstage (Broadway Playhouse), as well as productions at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Northlight, Peninsula Players, The Royal George, and Second City Theatricals. Kross is a 24-year ensemble member of American Blues Theater. On television he has appeared in Chicago Med , Fargo , Patriot , Chicago Fire , Sirens , and Boss , and in the films Road To Perdition and Ocean’s 12 . CARL PONCE CUBERO | DANCER Lyric debut Currently based in New York City, Cubero performed domestically and internationally with Ailey II from 2018 to 2020 and was a guest artist with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the Spring of 2022. Cubero has danced works by Donald McKayle, Alvin Ailey, Aszure Barton, Lar Lubovitch, Andrea Miller, Robert Battle, Jae Man Joo, and David Parsons, and received his BFA in Dance Performance with a minor in Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine. SHANE DICKSON | DANCER Lyric debut The Texas native studied musical theater at Oklahoma City University and currently resides in Berlin. He performed in the national tours of Footloose and the 42nd Street revival. From 2010 to 2013, he toured Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in CATS , where he played 6 different parts. In 2013, he first began working with Barrie Kosky and Otto Pichler at the Komische Oper Berlin. DEREK EGE | DANCER Lyric debut Ege appeared at The Metropolitan Opera in Tannhäuser and Turandot , and performed on tours of Shrek The Musica l and Fiddler on the Roof . He has danced with the Trey McIntyre Project and Keigwin + Co, and hold a BFA from The Juilliard School. MICHAEL FERNANDEZ | DANCER Lyric debut A resident of Berlin, Fernandez works frequently with Komische Oper Berlin, Frankfurt Opera, Stuttgart Opera, and other companies. He has previously toured and danced with the Garth Fagan Dance Company, Momix, Buglisi Dance Theatre, and Nimbus Dance Works. He holds a BFA in dance from the New World School of the Arts in Miami. MARCUS HARDY | DANCER Previously at Lyric: Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2021/22) . After receiving his BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University, Hardy joined the Inaside Chicago Dance company, where he spent five years. He has performed as a guest artist with SueMo Dance Company, Waterstreet Dance Company, and Chicago Dance Crash. CHRISTOPHER KELLEY | DANCER Lyric debut Kelley’s recent credits include Rock of Ages , Cinderella , Kinky Boot s, Beauty and The Beas t, Newsies , Wizard of Oz , and The Producers at the Paramount Theatre, Gypsy at The Muny, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Porchlight Music Theatre. Kelley danced with The Chicago Repertory Ballet in 2020 and 2021, and is also a teaching artist on the faculty of Visceral Dance Chicago, The Paramount School of The Arts, and Wings Dance Center.