Ten Questions with
Liam Moran, bass
Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet
1. Where were you born / raised?
I was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, but am now a proud Dairy Stater. I live with my family in La Crosse.
2. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I’d want to be a pro soccer player, but that probably wouldn’t have panned out! I suppose I’d be a lawyer or work in the mental health field.
3. The first opera I was ever in was…
Falstaff. I sang in the chorus at Tanglewood when I was in high school. I got the bug for sure.
4. My favorite opera is…
…the hardest question to answer. Depends on what day you ask, could be any or some combination of Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro, L’Incoronazione di Poppea, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Don Carlo, Eugene Onegin, you get the idea.
5. My favorite pre-show / post-show meal is…
My favorite pre-show meal is light, roasted vegetables or an omelette. Post-show I love a salty snack and a beer. This is Wisconsin, right? Ha!
6. People would be surprised to know that…
I’ve never joined Facebook. Well, people who know me aren’t surprised, they just roll their eyes. But nope, never did.
7. A few of my favorite books are…
…also hard to narrow down. Today let’s say: Anna Karenina, All the King’s Men, Catcher in the Rye, The Blind Assassins, Thinking: Fast and Slow; The Rest is Noise… I could go on!
8. What do you like to binge-watch?
Lately I’ve been binge-watching both of the OJ Simpson projects, the miniseries The People vs. OJ Simpson (outstanding) and the ESPN six-part documentary, OJ: Made in America. Both are extraordinary. Talk about operatic…
9. What four people (living or deceased) would you like to invite for a dinner party?
Again, I’m sure if you ask me later today you’ll get three new answers (I’d always say my grandma). But for now let’s say: Mozart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Einstein, and my grandmother. Lots of people I‘d like to meet, but suspect they’d be downers at a dinner party (Dostoevsky, Kant, Beethoven…).
10. Everyone should see Romeo and Juliet because….
It’s a different way to experience a piece we all think we already know. There are several departures from Shakespeare, but the central story remains intact. But more important, with opera the music gives the audience a chance to experience the emotional undercurrent of each scene at the same time, adding a visceral element to the narrative arc of the piece. Plus there are loads of great tunes and, really, do you ever need an excuse to come to the Overture Center?
Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
We have two kids under the age of five, so….
Q: Would you like some coffee?
A: Yes, yes I would.
Don’t miss the chance to see Liam in Romeo and Juliet, as Shakespeare’s classic work comes to ravishing operatic life. Performances are November 4 and 6 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at $18; visit madisonopera.org for more information.
Ten Questions with
Chris Carr, tenor
Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet
1. Where were you born / raised?
Born in Tom’s River, New Jersey and raised (mostly) in Quasqueton, Iowa.
2. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
Every singer I know has asked themselves this question, and so far I don’t have the clearest answer. Coffee is a big passion of mine, so I suppose I could always try to open a coffee shop!
3. The first opera I was ever in was…
I was a super in Gianni Schicchi my first semester of college; the next semester was my first singing role as Sid in Albert Herring.
4. My favorite opera is…
Always changing. There are some I love because of a production I was in and some I have never seen. Let’s go easy and say top five, in no particular order: La Bohème, Eugene Onegin, Pélleas et Mélisande, The Tales of Hoffmann, Macbeth.
5. My favorite pre-show meal is…
I will forever swear by the magic of a spicy falafel sandwich before a big sing.
6. People would be surprised to know that…
I grew up on a horse farm and rode for most of my childhood, thanks to my very dedicated mother. Also, I started college as a jazz saxophonist.
7. A few of my favorite books are…
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (Tolkein); Hard Boiled Wonderful and The End of the World (Murakami); Ender’s Game (Card); The Telling Room (Paterniti); and The Rest is Noise (Ross).
8. What do you like to binge-watch?
Every Star Trek show made. I’m currently re-watching DS9.
9. What four people (living or deceased) would you like to invite for a dinner party?
I guess I’ve always wanted to see what Mozart thought of jazz, so Mozart and Coltrane? Anthony Bourdain would have to come to show us where to eat, then round it off with Patrick Stewart, maybe?
10. Everyone should see Romeo and Juliet because….
It’s a moving retelling of this story. The play itself is aided so well by Gounod’s music and his pacing. It’s just simply a classic tale told in a way that you won’t see anywhere else.
Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q: Would you like fries with that?
A: YES, I WOULD!
Don’t miss the chance to see Chris in Romeo and Juliet, as Shakespeare’s classic work comes to ravishing operatic life. Performances are November 4 and 6 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at $18; visit madisonopera.org for more information.
Ten Questions with
Allisanne Apple, mezzo
Gertrude in Romeo and Juliet
1. Where were you born / raised?
Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin.
2. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
Horticulture.
3. The first opera I was ever in was…
The Marriage of Figaro.
4. My favorite opera is…
Carmen.
5. My favorite pre-show / post-show meal is…
A cookie and coffee. And for breakfast… lunch… midnight snack…
6. People would be surprised to know that…
I worked on two space shuttle missions in the late 1980s, early 1990s.
7. A few of my favorite books are…
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Our Mutual Friend, and the latest Janet Evanovich craziness.
8. What do you like to binge-watch?
Parenthood, Longmire.
9. What four people (living or deceased) would you like to invite for a dinner party?
Michelle Obama, Betty White, George Carlin, the Dalai Lama.
10. Everyone should see Romeo and Juliet because….
Who doesn’t love a love story?
Don’t miss the chance to see Allisanne in Romeo and Juliet, as Shakespeare’s classic work comes to ravishing operatic life. Performances are November 4 and 6 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at $18; visit madisonopera.org for more information.
Ten Questions with
Nathaniel Hill, baritone
Gregorio in Romeo and Juliet
1. Where were you born / raised?
I was born and raised in Defiance, Ohio, and yes, you might recognize it from Scandal.
2. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
Always a difficult question, but I did contemplate law school, so perhaps a lawyer.
3. The first opera I was ever in was…
Carmen at Toledo Opera as a chorister when I was about 14.
4. My favorite opera is…
This is always changing, but right now I’ve been fairly obsessed with Heggie’s Moby-Dick and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.
5. My favorite pre-show / post-show meal is…
Pizza. Always pizza.
6. People would be surprised to know that…
I have seven older sisters, and yes, we all have the same parents.
7. A few of my favorite books are…
Well, currently, Romeo and Juliet.
8. What do you like to binge-watch?
I am an avid Netflixer, but I genuinely think Breaking Bad is the greatest show of all time.
9. What four people (living or deceased) would you like to invite for a dinner party?
Mozart, Michael Fassbender, President Obama, and Verdi.
10. Everyone should see Romeo and Juliet because….
It’s a story everyone knows, but I promise every time you see the opera you will learn something new.
Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q: Who is going to win the 2017 NBA Championship?
A: Obviously the Cleveland Cavaliers will repeat.
Don’t miss the chance to see Nathaniel in Romeo and Juliet, as Shakespeare’s classic work comes to ravishing operatic life. Performances are November 4 and 6 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at $18; visit madisonopera.org for more information.
Ten Questions with
Doug Scholz-Carlson
Stage Director
of Romeo and Juliet
1. Where were you born / raised?
I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lived just a few blocks from the Wolverines’ stadium. I grew up in Northfield, Minnesota, home to St. Olaf College, where I went to school.
2. If you weren’t a director, what profession would you be in?
If I were going to switch right now, I’d open a brewpub and work on some really hoppy IPAs.
3. The first opera I was ever in was…
Transatlantic. I sang in the chorus at Minnesota Opera in a little-known opera by George Antiel from the 1930s. It showed me the range of what was possible in opera – a jazz score, social commentary, and an inventive, experimental design and staging – and I was on stage with Sherrill Milnes.
4. My favorite opera is…
The Turn of the Screw. It combines everything opera can be. It tells a psychological story in a way only an opera can. The music and the libretto work together with staging and design choices with each element adding to the overall effect. And it asks for singers who are both great musicians and great actors.
5. My favorite pre-show / post-show meal is…
There are even more good restaurants in Madison than the last time I was here. I’ll get back to you once I’ve been in town a few more days.
6. People would be surprised to know that…
I was a high school state champion swimmer in my youth.
7. A few of my favorite books are…
Snow Falling on Cedars, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Signal and the Noise, The Grapes of Wrath, and for fun – Red Sparrow.
8. What do you like to binge-watch?
Game of Thrones, Sherlock, House of Cards, and West World looks promising.
9. What four people (living or deceased) would you like to invite for a dinner party?
William Shakespeare, Michelle and Barack Obama, and Louis CK.
10. Everyone should see Romeo and Juliet because….
It’s beautiful. That’s really why you should come.
After that, you may think you know the story, but every time you see it, you discover unexpected depth and surprising revelations that you had missed before. This time around, I am discovering that the opera is about love, but it is also about the consequences of hate. We never learn why the Montagues hate the Capulets, only that they are both alike in dignity. We are in the midst of a time where we as a society are caught up in who we hate. We are so certain we have enough good reasons to hate the other side that we lose track of the fact that the hatred itself has consequences. The opera ponders what happens when love fails to break the pattern of entrenched hatred. We will do well to spend a few hours in the theater contemplating the result.
Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q: Would you rather work on the play or the opera of Romeo and Juliet?
A: I love them both for different reasons. The opera reveals so clearly the love between Romeo and Juliet. The play is full of beautiful, profound language that allows me to feel our shared humanity more deeply. I’m glad I get to work on both.
Don’t miss the chance to see Doug’s production of Romeo and Juliet, as Shakespeare’s classic work comes to ravishing operatic life. Performances are November 4 and 6 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at $18; visit madisonopera.org for more information.
