Lyric Opera of Chicago Debut
September 14, 2024: today I made my Lyric Opera of Chicago debut! It has been a total whirlwind experience, but I’m absolutely over the moon to have sung on the Lyric stage in the opening of the 70th season of Lyric Opera of Chicago.
The 24/25 season kicked off with our Ryan Opera Center performance of Sunday in the Park with Lyric at Millenium Park. Leading up to that performance, I fell rather ill and took two days off of rehearsal to try and get myself back to health. Still in recovery, I jumped into the sitzprobe on Friday, slept some more on Saturday and pushed through to the end of the performance on Sunday. But no rest for the wicked, Rigoletto rehearsals began the day after that! It has been quite a learning experience, seeing just how much my body and voice can handle under stress, and a relief to see that it does come through in the end.
Being in the rehearsal room for Rigoletto reminded me how much I love the process and performing. The Page does not have a lot to sing, but our director Mary Birnbaum (also my acting teacher from Juilliard!) has found meaning in including the Page in the opening party scene in the Duke’s (Javier Camarena) palace, which meant I got to work on my acting chops and explore the Page in a much deeper way than previous singers possibly had explored. Mostly, he just wants to be a part of the gang and LOVES eating grapes.
I can still remember the first day the chorus joined the staging rehearsals, the energy they brought into the room, and just the magnitude of their sound when they began to sing. Followed by the amazing supers who help to piece the story together some more and fill in the gaps. And of course, listening to Igor Golovatenko’s “Cortigiani” brings tears to my eyes every time. He brings such humanity to the role of Rigoletto that it makes my heart ache watching him. It is the people who make an experience unforgettable, and to have made my debut sharing the stage with all these incredible people is the highest honour.
It has been a true masterclass to experience the principal singers in their element and it allows me to reflect on the type of singer and artist that I want to be. I am so proud of this production, as I am sure all of my colleagues are as well, I am grateful that I get to be a part of this and that we still have six more performances!!
More information and tickets here.
Photo by Todd Rosenberg