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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
|
April - May, 2017
LAURIE SEELY VASSALLI
(
First Maid
), a member of
the Lyric Opera Chorus,
made her solo debut on
the Lyric stage as a Page/
Tannhäuser
(2014/15).
Having received her train-
ing at the University of
Wisconsin-Green Bay and
the University of Northern Iowa, the mezzo-
soprano has performed with the Mobile Opera
(Inez/
Il trovatore
), Michigan Opera Theatre
(Slave/
Salome
), Sarasota Opera (La Vecchia/
L’amore dei tre re
), Opera North (Dorabella/
Così fan tutte
, Mercédès/
Carmen
), and Opera
Company of Brooklyn (Cherubino/
The
Marriage of Figaro
, Kate Pinkerton/
Madama
Butterfly
, Zerlina/
Don Giovanni
).
VINCE WALLACE
re-
cently played Orpheus in
Lyric Unlimited’s world-
premiere production of
Jason and the Argonauts
by Gregory Spears and
was heard at Lyric as the
Usher/
Rigoletto
(2013/14).
A former Utah Festival
Opera apprentice artist, he received his vocal
training from Westminster Choir College of
Rider University and the Eastman School of
Music of the University of Rochester. Wallace
received first place as the U. S. representative at
the Concorso Internazionale di Musica Patané
Respighi (Alessandria, Italy) in 2013.
CORINNE WALLACE-
CRANE
(
Second Maid,
u/s Mrs. Eynsford-Hill,
u/s Mrs. Hopkins
) most
recently performed at
Lyric as Sister Sophia and
Fraulein Schweiger/
The
Sound of Music
and the
Fourth Page/
Tannhäuser
.
The mezzo-soprano has appeared with Petite
Opera Productions (Madame de la Haltière/
Cendrillon
), San Francisco Lyric Opera
(Giovanna/
Rigoletto
), and Central City Opera
(Assunta/
The Saint of Bleecker Street
, Nurse/
The Coronation of Poppea
). She has also been
a resident artist at the Natchez Festival and an
apprentice at Central City Opera and Sarasota
Opera.
RON WATKINS
(
Prince
of Transylvania, u/s Cockney
Quartet, u/s Servant
),
a Lyric Opera Chorus
member since 1992, has
performed seven roles at
Lyric, most recently in
Der Rosenkavalier
,
The
King and I
(both 2015/
16), and Captain Watson/
Carousel
(2014/15).
He has also appeared at DuPage Opera Theater
(Marcello/
La bohème),
the Grant Park Music
Festival (Samuel/
The Pirates of Penzance
),
Light Opera Works (Captain Corcoran/
HMS
Pinafore
, Sir Richard Cholmondeley/
The
Yeomen of the Guard
), as well as Chicago Opera
Theater, Madison’s Opera for the Young,
Eastman Opera Theater, and College Light
Opera Company in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
SHERRY WATKINS
(
u/s
Mrs. Higgins’s Maid, u/s
Servant
) is a member of the
Lyric Opera Chorus. She
made her Lyric solo debut
as Pepík/
The Cunning
Little Vixen
(2004/05)
and has performed in the
ensemble for several other
Lyric productions, including
The King and I
,
Carousel
,
The Sound of Music
,
Oklahoma!
,
Show
Boat
,
The Mikado
, and
The Pirates of Penzance
.
Watkins is an alumna of the American
Institute of Musical Studies (Graz, Austria),
Arizona State University, and the University
of Connecticut.
NIKOLAS
WENZEL
(
Bystander
,
Cockney Quar-
tet
), onstage at Lyric this
season as the Second
Trojan Soldier/
Les Troyens
,
is a member of the
Lyric Opera Chorus. A
graduate of Southern
Illinois University and
Northwestern University, he has performed
with Madison Opera (Prison Guard/
Dead Man
Walking
, Sacristan/
Tosca
), Lyric Unlimited’s
Opera in the Neighborhoods (Sarastro/
The
Magic Flute
, Don Magnifico/
Cinderella
),
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (Lillas Pastia/
Carmen
, Don Magnifico/
Cinderella
), and
Chicago Opera Theater (An Argonaut/
Médée
).
Wenzel was a semifinalist in the 2012 Bel
Canto Foundation competition.
PAMELAWILLIAMS
(
Ser-
vant, u/s Maids
) has been
a member of the Lyric
Opera Chorus since
1999 and has been seen
during recent seasons in
the ensembles of
Carousel
,
The Sound of Music
, and
Oklahoma!
. Major opera
credits include Miss Todd/
The Old Maid and
the Thief
and Sally/
A Hand of Bridge
(both at
Governors State University’s Opera Up Close).
Williams has also performed leading roles with
the Natchez Opera Festival, Madison’s Opera
for the Young, and the Indiana University
Opera Theater.
FRED ZIMMERMAN
(
u/s Alfred P. Doolittle
)
played Baron Pritschisch
in Lyric’s critically-
acclaimed production of
The Merry Widow
. He is
a Chicago-based singer-
actor and has starred in
numerous national tours of
Broadway productions, among them
Ragtime
,
Bounce
,
Radio City Christmas Spectacular
,
Strike Up the Band
,
Call Me Madam
, and
Show Boat
. Zimmerman’s film and television
credits include
Chicago Fire
,
Lowering the
Bar
,
Dustclouds
,
Fred Claus
, and the pilot for
ABC’s
Doubt
. He performed as Big Davy in
Drury Lane’s Jeff-nominated production of
Billy Elliot.
Dancers
AUBREY ADAMS*
re-
ceived her training from
the University of Okla-
homa and Oklahoma
City Ballet School. An
active performer, she has
appeared on the stages
of Chicago’s Paramount
Theatre (
West Side Story
,
A
Christmas Story
,
Oklahoma!
,
Les Misérables
,
The
Who’s Tommy
), Fort Worth’s Casa Mañana
(
Cats
,
42nd Street
,
Grease
,
Rent
,
Hairspray
,
Evita
,
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat
), and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma
(
High School Musical 2
,
The Producers
,
Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
,
The
Music Man
).
*Lyric debut