Courtney Miller, mezzo-soprano
Meg, Little Women

1.  Where were you born / raised? 
I was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  We moved to Madison / Middleton when I was three and I grew up in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District.

2.  If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
HGTV has convinced me I would be really good at flipping houses.  In addition to performing, I considered majoring in graphic design, arts administration / music business, or becoming an event planner.  I really like spreadsheets.

3.  The first opera I was ever in was…
I was in the chorus of The Bartered Bride my sophomore year at the University of Michigan; the only Czech opera I’ve ever done!

4.  My favorite opera is…
Strauss, Ravel, Weill, and Sondheim are my favorite composers.  Ariadne auf Naxos and Der Rosenkavalier are two of my favorites.  I am also a big advocate for modern opera and have been fortunate enough to have been part of Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Weinberg’s The Passenger – two tremendously important works of the 20th century based on true stories of, respectively, a death row inmate and his spiritual advisor, and the lives of prisoners and guards in Auschwitz.

5.  My favorite pre/post-show meal is…
I used to be convinced I sang best after a Diet Coke and a chocolate chip cookie or gummy snacks and potato chips.  Post-show, I’ll never turn down a good whiskey.  Or cookies.  Or chips.  Or gummies.

6.  People would be surprised to know that…
After that last question?  That I’m a healthy eater!  I‘ve dabbled in veganism, but now generally eat a whole foods, plant-based diet.

7.  My favorite book to read growing up was…
I was big into mysteries (Nancy Drew, Boxcar Children), historical fiction, and Harry Potter.  I used to read a lot.  Now I’m addicted to podcasts.

8.  If we were to turn on your ipod right now, what five artists / songs would we see on you recently-played list?
Freakonomics, Radiolab, The Sporkful, This American Life, Note to Self…  I really like podcasts.

9.  What is the worst costume you’ve ever worn?
I was in a production that custom-made all new 1890s dresses for the chorus women…  and then they dyed them.  They shrunk.  We could barely lift our arms and half of us had midriffs showing despite the hooks to keep the bodice and full skirt together!  I’m also allergic to wool and am given some sort of wool garment about 25% of the time.

10.  Everyone should see Little Women because….
It‘s a growing-up story most people know, but told in a different way.  Plus, it’s in English!

Bonus:  One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q:  I have this little house on a couple acres of wooded land with puppies, goats, chickens, and an alpaca – can I give it to you all for free?
A:  Why yes, thank you!

Don’t miss the chance to see Courtney in Little Women, as this beloved American classic comes to vivid musical life!  Performances are February 5 and 7 in the Capitol Theater.  Tickets start at $25; visit madisonopera.org for more information.

Ten Questions With…

Jeni Houser, soprano
Amy in Little Women

1.  Where were you born / raised? 
Born in Richland Center, Wisconsin.  Raised in Stoughton, Wisconsin.

2.  If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I WISH I could be a dancer, but realistically, probably a teacher.

3.  The first opera I was ever in was…
Dido and Aeneas, playing Belinda.

4.  My favorite opera is…
Der Rosenkavalier, unless I happen to be listening to Peter Grimes or Falstaff.

5.  My favorite pre/post-show meal is…
Pasta and veggies.

6.  People would be surprised to know that…
I once broke my toe during the final dress rehearsal of an opera when the leading tenor fell on it. 

7.  My favorite book to read growing up was…
A Wrinkle in Time.

8.  If we were to turn on your ipod right now, what five artists / songs would we see on you recently-played list?
David Bowie, Harry Connick, Jr., Ingrid Michaelson, Lake Street Dive, and Ella Fitzgerald.

9.  What is the worst costume you’ve ever worn?  Or if no such costume, what was the best costume?
My most recent costume (as the Queen of the Night with Minnesota Opera – in the Komische Oper Berlin production) was basically a sleeping bag.  We called it the cocoon, and it had to be put on just before I appeared onstage because I couldn’t walk in it.  Its function was to be a background for projected images, so the effect was great, but backstage I looked hilarious.

10.  Everyone should see Little Women because….
The book is such a classic, and the opera has become one as well.  It is a timeless story of growing up and family, and Adamo’s music brings the characters to life in a wonderful way.

Bonus:  One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q:  What do you think about on the toughest days, when it seems like nothing is going right, your whole life is collapsing, and depression is inevitable?
A:  DOGS.  And then everything feels alright again. 

Don’t miss the chance to see Jeni in Little Women, as this beloved American classic comes to vivid musical life!  Performances are February 5 and 7 in the Capitol Theater.  Tickets start at $25; visit madisonopera.org for more information.

Cassandra Koob, soprano
Quartet, Little Women

1.  Where were you born / raised? 
Minnesota born and raised!  Specifically born in Edina and raising in Bloomington.

2.  If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
My senior year of high school, I had two paths… Music at University of Minnesota or architecture at College of St. Benedict.  So I almost went to college to design buildings.  It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t go into that.

3.  The first opera I was ever in was…
Freshman year of college, I was a chorister in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

4.  My favorite opera is…
That’s so hard!  I’m partial to French repertoire:  Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Massenet’s Manon and Werther.  Adamo’s Little Women is becoming a new favorite!

5.  My favorite pre/post-show meal is…
Healthy food pre-show.  Fried food post-show.  And beer!

6.  People would be surprised to know that…
I’m legally blind without my contacts.  So if I’m woken up at night, I may hit whoever is doing the waking (even if it’s my fiancé… because I can’t see!)

7.  My favorite book to read growing up was…
Harry Potter!

8.  If we were to turn on your ipod right now, what five artists / songs would we see on you recently-played list?
Adamo’s Little Women, Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, Adele’s 25, Postmodern Jukebox.

9.  What is the worst costume you’ve ever worn?
In college, I played Papagena in The Magic Flute.  The “old lady” costume was only a black cloak, basically with football padding sewn in.  I was a black bob!

10.  Everyone should see Little Women because….
It’s a beautiful story and there won’t be a dry eye in the house!

Bonus:  One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
I am recently engaged, so…
Q:  Would you like a $10,000 bonus for your dream wedding?
A:  YES!

Don’t miss the chance to see Cassandra in Little Women, as this beloved American classic comes to vivid musical life!  Performances are February 5 and 7 in the Capitol Theater.  Tickets start at $25; visit madisonopera.org for more information.

Elizabeth Hagedorn, soprano
Alma March, Little Women

1.  Where were you born / raised? 
I am a Milwaukee native, my dad was a mailman.  I went to UW-Stevens Point and got a degree in Music Education, and accidentally ended up singing opera in Germany for 25 years.  It’s wonderful to be back in Wisconsin, sharing what I’ve learned with the young singers at UW-Madison.

2.  If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I‘ve always liked science, that could easily have happened.  Teaching is wonderful; I feel very honored to be able to be a potential catalyst for so many people.

3.  The first opera I was ever in was…
As a teenager, in the chorus of La Traviata for Music Under the Stars in Milwaukee.  My dad was assistant choral director for Florentine Opera, so I had an “in.”  My first role in college in Boulder, Colorado, was Musetta in La Bohème, and my first professional role was Violetta in La Traviata – in German!

4.  My favorite opera is…
Oh no, really?  Salome, for sure.  No, Tosca.  And Ariadne.  Wait; Lohengrin.  Traviata?  Or Don Giovanni.

5.  My favorite pre/post-show meal is…
At three o’clock, pasta and a boring sauce.  Snickers bar in the intermission, if it’s a tough sing, and lots of food afterwards.

6.  People would be surprised to know that…
Little Women was a scary book for me as a child.  My family called me Beth, I was the little musician in the family, and I’d even had scarlet fever.  I cried buckets when the “me” in the novel died, and wondered if my sewing needle would get too heavy someday.

7.  My favorite book to read growing up was…
A novel called Jade by Sally Watson.

8.  If we were to turn on your ipod right now, what five artists / songs would we see on you recently-played list?
I’m not a headphone fan, no ipod.  I listen mostly to standard jazz singers and chamber music.

9.  What is the worst costume you’ve ever worn?
There was a time when paper costumes were a fad in Germany, and they were awful!  They were stiff, hot, slippery, and rustled with every move.

10.  Everyone should see Little Women because….
It is like stepping into a time machine.  You get to re-live some of the most wonderful and poignant scenes in the novel, filtered through the perspective of Jo.  Love, loss, and lessons in accepting change, reconciling with ambivalence.

Bonus:  One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q:  Are you a published scientist?
A:  Well, as a matter of fact, yes!  I worked in my brother Henry’s entomology lab – measuring the amount of yolk in unlaid mosquito eggs (I am not making this up) – and was credited in the publication in the Journal of Insect Science.

Don’t miss the chance to see Elizabeth in Little Women, as this beloved American classic comes to vivid musical life!  Performances are February 5 and 7 in the Capitol Theater.  Tickets start at $25; visit madisonopera.org for more information.

Chelsea Morris Shephard, soprano
Beth, Little Women

1.  Where were you born / raised? 
I was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and grew up in Paw Paw, Michigan.

2.  If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I would have to be in music somehow!

3.  The first opera I was ever in was…
Mozart’s Idomeneo in undergrad.  The first day of chorus rehearsal was my 19th birthday, and I remember being overwhelmed by the beauty and volume when they sang “Happy Birthday” to me.

4.  My favorite opera is…
It’s a three-way tie:  The Marriage of Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, and Eugene Onegin.

5.  My favorite pre/post-show meal is…
I like to eat something simple before the show (i.e. chicken with pasta), have an intermission banana, and then drink a nice, cold New Glarus afterward.

6.  People would be surprised to know that…
My dad owned an independent record store for 20+ years, which also sold Fender guitars.

7.  My favorite book to read growing up was…
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

8.  If we were to turn on your ipod right now, what five artists / songs would we see on you recently-played list?
I don’t have an ipod, so you’d have to check my history on youtube.

9.  What is the best costume you’ve ever worn?
My best costume was the gorgeous handmade gown that I wore for Haymarket Opera’s Gli Equivoci nel Sembiante, designed by Meriem Bahri.  It felt like I stepped out of a Baroque painting!  On the other end of the spectrum, I did a production of The Magic Flute in which we choristers were all dressed in hazmat suits.

10.  Everyone should see Little Women because….
The story is timeless and the music is modern but also beautiful and lyrical.  You will love it!

Bonus:  One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q:  How do you feel about the future of opera?
A:  Incredibly hopeful!  There are so many people pouring their hearts into this stunning art form.  People are innovating and finding ways to create more for less, operas are still being written, and audiences are still being blown away by their experiences in the opera house.

Don’t miss the chance to see Chelsea in Little Women, as this beloved American classic comes to vivid musical life!  Performances are February 5 and 7 in the Capitol Theater.  Tickets start at $25; visit madisonopera.org for more information.