My Fair Lady

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

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/

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

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 ).

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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

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

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.

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.

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

26 | April - May, 2017