Synopsis   |

Cast Bios   |

Fun Facts  |

Composer   |

Music Director, Graeme Jenkins

Where Stars Shine Brightest Although we are always happy to support the careers of local artists, The Dallas Opera attracts international casts from as far away as Russia and China in order to bring North Texas audiences the very best the world has to offer. This is the place where opera legend Plácido Domingo made his U.S. debut. Opera’s greatest stars are always shining at The Dallas Opera!

Anna Glawari: Ruth Ann Swenson	Count Danilo Danilowitsch: Rod Gilfry	Baron Mirko Zeta: Andrew Shore*	Valencienne: Nathalie Paulin

Camille de Rosillon: Stephen Costello	Raoul de St. Brioche: Scott Scully	Njegus: Jason Graae*	Vicomte Cascada: Michael Kimmons	Bogdanovich: Jamie Offenbach*	Sylviane: Amber Womack*	Kromow: Mark McCrory
Olga: Laura Anne Ayres*	Pritschitsch: Scott Sikon	Praskowia: Amy Stevenson*	Zozo: Ava Pine	Maitre D': Raphael Parry*	Production: Lotfi Mansouri	Stage Director: Candace Evans*
Scenic Director: Michael Yeargan	Costume Designer: Thierry Bosquet	Lighting Designer: Thomas J. Munn	Chorus Master: Alexander Rom	Choreographer: Peggy Hickey*

* Dallas Opera Debut
** American Debut

Ruth Ann Swenson (Hanna Glawari)
Soprano - Long Island, New York

Highlights: The Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Lucia di Lammermoor, Juliette, Pamina, Cleopatra, Ophelia and a host of other roles (San Francisco); Mimi, Marguerite in Faust, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Micäela and Adina (Metropolitan Opera); Violetta in La traviata (Covent Garden, New York, Barcelona, Chicago, San Francisco, Athens, the Orange Festival); Gilda in Rigoletto (Teatro San Carlo, Naples); Gilda, Susanna, Manon, Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann and Giulietta in I Capuleti ed I Montecchi (Paris National Opera); Norina in Don Pasquale, Anne Trulove in The Rakes Progress and the Contessa Almaviva (Chicago Lyric Opera); Lucia and Rosina (Washington Opera); Mimi in La bohème and Marguerite (Pittsburgh); Amina in La sonnambula (Carnegie Hall and Lisbon) and acclaimed appearances at The Dallas Opera, including the roles of Lucia, Norina, Susanna, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, and the title roles in Luisa Miller and Rodelinda.

After The Merry Widow: Violetta in La traviata (Metropolitan Opera) and her role debut as Ginevra in Ariodante (San Francisco Opera).

Rod Gilfry (Count Danilo Danilowitsch)
Baritone – Claremont, California

Highlights: Created the role of Stanley Kowalski in 1998 premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire (San Francisco) televised nationwide; created the role of Nathan Landau in Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice (Covent Garden, Washington National Opera); created the role of Edward Gaines in Margaret Garner opposite Denyce Graves (Michigan Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia); TDO credits include the tiles roles in Billy Budd and Don Giovanni as well as leading roles in The Barber of Seville and Die Fledermaus; Lionel in Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans (San Francisco); Barcelona’s Liceu performing his one-man show, My Heart is So Full of You; the title role in Pelléas et Mélisande (Zürich Opera); Prospero in The Tempest (Santa Fe); Papageno at Washington National Opera; the role of de Guiche in Cyrano de Bergerac opposite Plácido Domingo (Valencia, Spain); Tsar Nicholas II in the world premiere of Nicholas & Alexandra; Danilo in The Merry Widow and Prince Paul in Offenbach’s Le Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein (Los Angeles Opera); The Most Happy Fella at the 2007 Ravinia Festival.

After The Merry Widow: the Proms Concerts in London, the Saito-Kinen Festival in Japan, and performances with Opera Pacific, Zürich Opera and Netherlands Opera.

Andrew Shore* (Baron Mirko Zeta)
Baritone – Oldham, Lancashire, UK

Highlights: Metropolitan Opera debut as Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore; Alberich in the Ring (Bayreuth); George Wilson in The Great Gatsby (Lyric Opera of Chicago); the title roles in Falstaff and Sir John in Love by Vaughn Williams, as well as performances of War & Peace, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Alberich in Wagner’s Ring (English National Opera); Leandro in Love for Three Oranges (Opera North at Edinburgh Festival, recorded for television); Falstaff and Don Alfonso in Santa Fe; Faber in The Knot Garden (Scottish Opera); concert performances with the Matrix Ensemble, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra and at the Edinburgh International Festival. Upcoming roles include L’heure espagnol for the Royal Opera House; Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier for English National Opera and the world premiere of Appomattox by Philip Glass (San Francisco).

Nathalie Paulin (Valencienne)
Soprano – New Brunswick, Canada

Highlights: title role in , Mary in Handel’s La Resurrezione and Galatea in Acis and Galatea (Chicago Opera Theater); Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites and Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Vancouver Opera); Micaëla in Carmen (Calgary Opera); the title role in Manon (Opera Quebec); Tebaldo in Canadian Opera Company’s Don Carlos; Norina in Don Pasquale (Montreal Opera); Pamina (Vancouver Opera); Peer Gynt for the Quebec Symphony Orchestra; Messiah (Toronto Symphony, Orchestra London and the Elora Festival Singers); Mozart’s Requiem (Calgary Philharmonic) and “Handel in Rome” for the New York Collegium. Dallas Opera roles include Frasquita in Carmen, 1st Lady in The Magic Flute and Pousette in Manon.

After The Merry Widow: Roles in Handel’s Orlando (Washington Concert Opera) and the Toronto Bach Consort conducted by Jane Glover.

Stephen Costello (Camille de Rosillon)
Tenor – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Highlights: Leicester in Mary Queen of Scots (The Dallas Opera); Rodolfo in La bohème (Fort Worth Opera, Academy of Vocal Arts-AVA); the Fisherman in Guillaume Tell (Carnegie Hall debut, Opera Orchestra of New York); Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (Bordeaux, AVA); the Duke in Rigoletto (Madison Opera, AVA); Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Fritz in L’amico Fritz, Roberto in Le villi, and Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon (AVA); concert appearances with the Teatro Regio di Torino and on the Rosenblatt Recital Series, his London recital debut.

After The Merry Widow: Lord Arturo Bucklaw in Lucia di Lammermoor (Met debut), Rodolfo in La bohème (Hamburg); the title role in Faust (Santiago, Chile); Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Fort Worth Opera), Christian in David DiChiera’s Cyrano (Opera Company of Philadelphia).

Scott Scully (Raoul de St. Brioche)
Tenor – Houston, Texas

Highlights: First Noble in Lohengrin (Dallas Opera debut); Squeak in Billy Budd (San Francisco Opera); Martin in The Tender Land, Beppe in Pagliacci (Houston Grand Opera); Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (HGO, Opera Colorado); Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Nadir in Les Pecheurs de perles (Arizona Opera); Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Opera Ontario; Die Zauberflöte and Billy Budd (Pittsburgh Opera); appearing in Der Rosenkavalier and Falstaff with the Cleveland Orchestra; Chevalier in Les Dialogues des Carmelites (Fort Worth Opera).

After The Merry Widow: Louis in Angels in America; Ballad Singer in Of Mice and Men (Fort Worth Opera); Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Pacific and Don Jose in Carmen (Edmonton Opera).

Michael Kimmons (Vicomte Cascada) Baritone – Dallas, Texas

Highlights:Member of The Dallas Opera Chorus; Papageno in The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Sid in Albert Herring, Schaunard in La bohème, Beaumarchais in Ghosts of Versailles, Koko in The Mikado, Frank Maurrant in Street Scene, Armchair in L’enfant et les sortileges, Zurga in The Pearl Fishers, Silvio in Pagliacci and El Gallo in The Fantasticks (SMU). Awarded SMU’s Thomas Hayward Award as outstanding undergraduate vocalist of the year (2001). Roles for The Dallas Opera include an Apparition in Macbeth (2007), an Officer in The Barber of Seville and the Wigmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos.

After The Merry Widow: Sciarrone in Tosca for The Dallas Opera.

Jamie Offenbach* (Bogdanovich)
Bass-baritone – Honolulu, Hawaii

Highlights: Don Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Pistola in Falstaff, Zuniga in Carmen and Farmer Bean in the world premiere of Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (Los Angeles Opera); title role of The Mikado, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia; Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila and Angelotti in Tosca (Hawaii Opera Theatre); Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri (Santa Barbara Opera); Tiger Brown in Three Penny Opera (Arizona Opera); Capellio in I Capuleti ed I Montecchi (Florentine Opera); Marchese D’Obigny in La traviata and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Pacific).

Mark McCrory (Kromow)
Bass – Dallas, TX

Highlights: Fourth Noble in Lohengrin, The High Priest of Babylon in Nabucco, Perichaud/A Steward dual role in La Rondine, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos and Second Armored Man in The Magic Flute (Dallas Opera); title role in Le nozze di Figaro (Minnesota Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Opera Festival of New Jersey); title role in Don Giovanni (Madison Opera, Opera Pacific); Marco in A View from the Bridge (world premiere, Lyric Opera of Chicago); and most recently, the Count in Le nozze di Figaro (New Orleans Opera). Upcoming: The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance (Living Opera) and Ferrando in Il trovatore (Kentucky Opera).

After The Merry Widow: First Nazarene in Salome (The Dallas Opera); Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Virginia Opera).

Scott Sikon (Pritschitsch)
Baritone – Carbondale, Illinois

Highlights: Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, Schaunard in La bohème, Dikoy in Katya Kabanova, Handwerkbursche in Wozzeck, Second Armed Man and Second Philistine in Samson et Dalila (San Diego Opera); the Mayor in Jenufa, the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, Narumoff in The Queen of Spades, Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème and Don Magnifico (school performances) in Cinderella for The Dallas Opera; Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow and Montano in Otello (Hawaii Opera Theatre); world premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies The Number 11 Bus (Vienna); Bertrand in world premiere of Conrad Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons (San Francisco).

After The Merry Widow: Reinmar von Zweter in Tannhäuser (San Diego); the Sacristan in Tosca (Dallas, San Diego and San Antonio); Monterone in Rigoletto and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly (San Diego).

Jason Graae* (Njegus)
Tenor – Chicago, Illinois

Highlights: Broadway – A Grand Night for Singing, Falsettos, Stardust, Snoopy!, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Off-Broadway – Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (Drama Desk Nomination); Forever Plaid; All in the Timing. Awards – 2006 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and New York Nightlife Award for one-man show “Coup de Graae!” TV – “Six Feet Under,” “Friends,” “Frasier,” “Rude Awakening,” Dukes of Hazzard,” “Sabrina,” “Evening at Pops,” etc. Opera - Njegus (L.A. Opera, Houston Grand Opera; New Orleans Opera); Frosch in Die Fledermaus (San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera); Offenbach in The Grand Duchess (L.A. Opera); American Songbook Series at “Jazz at Lincoln Center.” Metropolitan Opera House debut as lead singer in Twyla Tharp’s “Everlast” with ABT.

After The Merry Widow: “Graae’s Anatomy” at Birdland in NYC, Carnegie Hall tribute to Charles Strouse.

Ava Pine (Zozo)
Soprano – Galveston, Texas

Highlights: Anna in Nabucco (Dallas Opera debut); double role of Yvette/Off-stage Voice in La Rondine, Lady-in-Waiting in Macbeth and First Page in Lohengrin; Berta in The Barber of Seville-School Performances (TDO); Faure’s Requiem (Dallas Symphony Orchestra debut); Handel’s Messiah (Ft. Worth Symphony debut); Amour in Rameau’s Pygmalion (Dallas Bach Society); Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Seagle Music Colony); Mozart’s Mass in C minor (Orpheus Singers of Dallas); Erato in Handel’s Terpsicore (New York Baroque Dance Co.). Upcoming: Frasquita in Carmen, Sophie in Werther and covering Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Chautauqua Opera).

After The Merry Widow: Messiah and Bach’s Mass in B-minor (Dallas Symphony Orchestra), Angels in America at Ft. Worth Opera.

Graeme Jenkins (Conductor)
Music Director of The Dallas Opera – London, England
1985-92 Glyndebourne Touring Opera/Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Highlights: 150 operatic productions of a hundred different works including Billy Budd and Jenufa (Vienna State Opera); Così fan tutte (English National Opera); Baz Luhrmann’s La bohème and Der Meistersinger (Australia); The Cunning Little Vixen and From the House of the Dead (Berlin); Le nozze di Figaro for Theater an der Wien in Vienna; Simon Boccanegra, Der Fliegende Holländer and Il re pastore (Amsterdam); La clemenza di Tito (Copenhagen) and numerous productions for The Dallas Opera including the Ring Cycle, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute and company premieres of Billy Budd, Nabucco, Wozzeck, Katya Kabanova, Mary Queen of Scots and Rodelinda; performances with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Jenkins’ debut with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra of Spain, as well as a recent Bartok Celebration Concert with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic. World premieres of works by Tobias Picker (Thérèse Raquin at The Dallas Opera, on the Chandos label) and Stephen Oliver (English National Opera).

After The Merry Widow: Le nozze di Figaro and Don Carlos at Royal Danish Opera; Jenufa and Der fliegende Höllander for Vienna State Opera; a concert conducting the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Salome at The Dallas Opera.

Lotfi Mansouri (Stage Director)
Tehran, Iran

Highlights: 1988-2001: Sixty productions as General Director of San Francisco Opera; from 1976 until 1988 served as General Director of Canadian Opera Company; from 1965 until 1976 worked as Head Stage Director for Geneva Opera and for four years in the early 1970s he also staged productions for the Tehran Opera in Iran. Mr. Mansouri, awarded the Chevalier Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, has produced and directed in prestigious venues including Milan’s La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Opera (where he directed for seven consecutive seasons), Vancouver Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, San Diego Opera, Zürich Opera, Verona, Naples, Palermo, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and – of course – The Dallas Opera, where he made his company debut in 1974 directing I puritani, returning to direct Handel’s Samson (1976), Der Rosenkavalier (1982), Così fan tutte (1984), Don Carlo (1988) and our 1989 production of The Merry Widow. Film credits include operatic portions of the Academy Award-winning Moonstruck. Mr. Mansouri, who studied at UCLA and earned a B.A. in Psychology, became an American citizen in 1960 and both taught and staged productions at several West Coast colleges and universities before accepting a post as Resident Stage Director of the Zürich Opera House. His autobiography, Lotfi Mansouri: An Operatic Life was published in 1982.

Michael Yeargan (Scenic Design)
Dallas, Texas

Highlights: 2005 Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for The Light in the Piazza; nominated for a 2006 Tony Award for his design for Awake and Sing!; nominated for two 2006 Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Set Design for Seascape and Awake and Sing! (winner). This Dallas native is resident designer for the Yale Repertory Theatre and Professor of Stage Design at Yale School of Drama. Mr. Yeargan has designed extensively on Broadway and for opera companies throughout the U.S. and Europe, including designs for San Francisco Opera (world premiere productions, Dead Man Walking and A Streetcar Named Desire), Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Welsh National Opera, Australian Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Houston Grand Opera (world premiere, Cold Sassy Tree), Scottish Opera, and The Dallas Opera. Credits here include Jenufa, Hansel & Gretel, Rigoletto, Vanessa and Madama Butterfly.

Thierry Bosquet (Costume Design)
Brussels, Belgium

Highlights: In his lengthy career, Mr. Bosquet has designed more than 200 sets and six thousand costumes for productions throughout Europe and the United States, including over 75 operas and ballets for the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. Recent designs include Die Fledermaus, Der Rosenkavalier, Capriccio, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Don Giovanni, Aida, Carmen, Pelléas et Mélisande and Tosca (San Francisco Opera); The Magic Flute, Werther, The Mikado and La traviata for New York City Opera; Tosca (Seattle Opera); The Merry Widow (Utah Opera); Rigoletto and Otello (Liège); La Belle Hélène for the Canadian Opera Company and Capriccio for Washington Opera.

Thomas J. Munn (Lighting Design)
Plainville, Connecticut

Highlights: Elektra, Hansel and Gretel, La traviata (2000, 2004), Carmen, Cinderella and Rodelinda for The Dallas Opera; Resident Lighting Director and Designer for San Francisco Opera creating designs and special effects for more than 200 productions (1976-2000) including Emmy Award-winning designs for La Giocanda and the Emmy-nominated televised world premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire. Opera lighting credits include productions for companies in Italy, The Netherlands, Japan, Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, Washington, Pittsburgh and New Orleans; scenery and/or lighting for Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater, ballet, industrials and films. Recent productions include Samson and Delilah and Julius Caesar (San Diego Opera); Urinetown and Carmen (UC Davis) and Mahagonny (TV lighting director for LA Opera). Mr. Munn is Professor of Lighting in the Department of Theater and Dance at UC Davis. His work as a lighting consultant ranges from the renovated War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco and the Napa Valley Opera House to Het Musiktheatre in Amsterdam.

After The Merry Widow: Rodelinda (Portland Opera) and Nest (UC Davis).

Alexander Rom (Chorus Master)
Kharkov, Ukraine

Highlights: Lohengrin, Macbeth, La Rondine and Mary Queen of Scots (2007), Nabucco, The Barber of Seville and The Magic Flute (2006), The Tales of Hoffmann (2005), Cav/Pag (2005), Madame Butterfly (1995, 2000, 2005), Jenufa (1993, 2004) Der fliegende Holländer (1993) and other productions – too numerous to name – for The Dallas Opera. A composer (and confirmed book lover) as well as an internationally renowned chorus master, Alexander’s works have been performed at Carnegie Hall. His arrangements of songs by Edvard Grieg have been performed at New York’s famed South Street Seaport and, in England, by members of the BBC Chorus under the direction of Bo Holten.

After The Merry Widow: Chorus preparation for Porgy and Bess, and Tosca at The Dallas Opera.

Peggy Hickey* (Choreographer)
Sacramento, California

Highlights: Award-winning director of Hansel und Gretel at the Juilliard School (televised on “Live from Lincoln Center” on PBS), several concerts for Opera Pacific and Carmen (Sacramento Opera). Ms. Hickey’s choreography credits include The Merry Widow (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera); Salome for the Savonlinna Festival (Finland); La Rondine and The Most Happy Fella (New York City Opera); Washington Opera’s Die Fledermaus, televised on the “Great Performances” series “Live from the Kennedy Center on PBS stations; La bohème, Aida, Falstaff and Vanessa (L.A. Opera); La traviata (Palm Beach Opera) and Lucillo Silla (Santa Fe Opera). Her numerous nominations and awards include the MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography (Beck’s The New Pollution) and two Connecticut Critics Circle Awards.

After The Merry Widow: La bohème for Los Angeles Opera and An Evening of Bach with the L.A. Philharmonic.

* Dallas Opera Debut
** American Debut