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Ten Questions with Thomas Forde

Ten Questions With…

Thomas Forde, bass
Luther / CrespelThe Tales of Hoffmann

1.  Where were you born / raised? 
I was born on the northwest side of Chicago in a very residential neighborhood.

2.  If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I’ve always wanted to be a TV news anchor or to host a morning show on the radio.  I love WGN and the morning talk radio show in Chicago – in fact, I listen to the podcasts every day no matter where I may be in the world.

3.  The first opera I was ever in was…
The Tales of Hoffmann!  It was my first opera during my freshman year of college.  It solidified for me that being a performer was the path I wanted to choose.

4.  My favorite opera is…
Eugene Onegin.  I sing the role of Prince Gremin, which is one of those roles that appear at the very end of the opera.  He gets to sing a beautiful, lyric aria.  He actually “wins” in the opera, but the meatier character for me is the title character of Onegin.  Sometimes, I’ll just go through Youtube and watch various scenes with different singers and stagings of the pivotal scenes to dream about singing the role.

5.  My favorite pre/post-show meal is…
I eat pretty normally ever day, but after show, I’d have to go with a burger and fries.  In Madison, I’ll go with cheese curds or poutine and a beer (after the show, of course).

6.  People would be surprised to know that
I’m a pretty good student.  I took most assignments in school pretty seriously.  I will say, though, that there are a couple of subjects I just have an insane amount of trouble comprehending.  I got mostly As and Bs in high school and college, but I had to switch out of Geometry, because I could never get a grasp on the concept of “proofs.”  Go figure. 

7.  A few of my favorite books are
The Hunger Games trilogy, My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler, Moby Dick.

8.  If we were to turn on your ipod right now, what five artists / songs would we see on you recently-played list?
1) 5 recordings of The Tales of Hoffmann
2) 3 recordings of me talking to myself (to memorize scripts for commercials, tv, etc.)
3) 90s energy pop music (for the gym)
4) The Broadway Channel on Spotify (think Legally Blonde, Newsies)
5) Downtown (Macklemore)

9.  What is the worst costume you’ve ever worn?  Or if no such costume, what was the best costume?
I can’t think of a really horrible costume.  I’ve been pretty lucky with that.  I had a custom-made beautiful Don Carlo costume as one of the deputies at Opernahaus Zurich.  It was tailored exactly to my figure for the premiere, and I think it’s cool that my name will always be inside the costume for the future singers who wear it.

10.  Everyone should see The Tales of Hoffmann because….
It is a look through love gained and lost.  It is a story that many people can connect to while looking back at parts of life gone by.  There are tragic and comedic elements, and the music is just insanely beautiful.  You will probably never hear the same exact version of Hoffmann at two separate locations, as the score has so many incarnations.  You will see a doll come to life and get to witness magic through staging and vocalism.

Bonus:  One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer):
Q:  How did you know you wanted to be a performer / actor / singer?
A:  My parents took me to a PG-13 movie when I was about 10 years old, and I asked them what would make it different from the PG movies that I was used to seeing.  They said there might be swearing and kissing in the movie and that it was okay, because it was make-believe.  From this point onwards, I wanted to be an actor.   

Don’t miss the chance to see Thomas in The Tales of Hoffmann, an extraordinary work that is equal parts fantasy, realism, and genuine passion.  Performances are April 15 and 17 in Overture Hall.  Tickets start at $18; visit madisonopera.org for more information.

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Keely Futterer

Rosina, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Dover, AR
Madison Opera Debut: Léontine, The Anonymous Lover (2024)

Recently: Anna Sørenson, Silent Night (Wolf Trap Opera); Musetta, La Bohème; Armida, Rinaldo; Charlene, Service Provider; Jazz Trio, Trouble in Tahiti (Minnesota Opera);
Armida, Rinaldo; Vanderdendur, Candide; Angostura, Tenor Overboard (Glimmerglass Festival);
Rodelinda, Rodelinda (Hudson Hall); Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Opera Memphis);

Upcoming: Marcellina, Leonora (Chicago Opera Theater);
Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Virginia Opera); Verdi Requiem (Erie Philharmonic)


Weston Hurt

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Hometown: Spring, TX
Madison Opera Debut: Germont, La Traviata (2019)

Recently: Sharpless, Madama Butterfly (Houston Grand Opera, New Orleans Opera);
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Germont, La Traviata (Lyric Opera of Kansas City); Nabucco, Nabucco (Seattle Opera)

Upcoming: Rigoletto, Rigoletto (English National Opera)

Joshua Sanders

Tenor, Opera in the Park

Hometown: Plain, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Giuseppe, La Traviata (2011)
Also at MO: Tobias Ragg, Sweeney Todd; Inmate, Dead Man Walking; Ensemble, Acis and Galatea

Recently: Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville; Romeo, Romeo and Juliet (Opera San José);
Tamino, The Magic Flute (Nashville Opera); Sam Clay, The Amazing Adventures of
Kavalier & Clay
workshop (Metropolitan Opera)

Upcoming:  Victorin, Die tote Stadt (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Sachie Ueshima, wearing black in front of a stone staircase.
Sachie Ueshima

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Madison Opera Debut
Former Madison Opera Studio Artist

Recently: Cio-Cio-San, Madama Butterfly (Virginia Opera); Violetta, La Traviata;
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Upcoming: Cio-Cio-San, Madama Butterfly (Kentucky Opera)


David Walton

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Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2017
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Recently: Ferrando, Così fan tutte (Princeton Festival); Ramiro, La Cenerentola (Toledo Opera);
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Upcoming: Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville (Minnesota Opera); Candide, Candide (South Florida Symphony);
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Emily Fons

Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni

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Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2012
Also at MO: Opera in the Park 2024; Rosina, The Barber of Seville (2015)

Recently: Nicklausse, The Tales of Hoffmann (Palm Beach Opera);
Rosina, The Barber of Seville (Cincinnati Opera, Santa Fe Opera);
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Hansel, Hansel and Gretel (New Orleans Opera)

Upcoming: Princess Irene, Tamerlano (Haymarket Opera)


Kanopy Dance

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Lisa Thurrell

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Hometown: Madison, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Florencia en el Amazonas (2018)
Recently at MO: The Anonymous Lover, Trouble in Tahiti / The Seven Deadly Sins
Co-Artistic Director of Kanopy Dance

Recently: Director and Choreographer, Winter Fantasia: Reimagined; Polaris + Revelations;
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Upcoming: Director and Choreographer, Inner Passages (Kanopy Dance);
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Kirstin Chávez

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Upcoming: Carmen, Carmen (Kentucky Symphony Orchestra); Carmen, Carmen Inside Out (the film)


Ryan Nash

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Madison Opera Studio Artist

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Upcoming: Tamino, The Magic Flute (Opera for the Young)


John DeMain

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Rebecca Herman

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Madison Opera Debut

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Fenlon Lamb

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Madison Opera Debut:
La Traviata (2019)
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Kamna Gupta

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Frances Rabalais

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Charles Eaton

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Madison Opera Debut: Moralès, Carmen (2017)
Recently at MO: Count Malcolm, A Little Night Music

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Upcoming: Mercutio, Romeo & Juliet (Minnesota Opera);
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Jeremiah Sanders

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Ashraf Sewailam

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Captain, Florencia en el Amazonas (2018)

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Headshot of Hailey Cohen
Hailey Cohen

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Also with MO: Paquette, Candide
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Lifan Deng

Fiorello, The Barber of Seville
Masetto, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Shenzhen, China
Madison Opera Debut
Madison Opera Studio Artist

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Old Adam Goodheart, Ruddigore; Carpenter's Mate, H.M.S. Pinafore (The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company);
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Laureano Quant

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Hometown: Barranquilla, Colombia
Madison Opera Debut

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Kelly Guerra

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Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Madison Opera Debut

Recently: María, María de Buenos Aires (Kentucky Opera); Lupita, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna;
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Alex Taylor

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Levi Hernandez

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Madison Opera Debut: Papageno, The Magic Flute (2006)
Recent at MO: Alvaro, Florencia en el Amazonas; Opera in the Park 2018

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Upcoming: Lescaut, Manon Lescaut (Washington National Opera); Benoit/Alcindoro, La Bohème (Lyric Opera of Chicago);
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Benjamin Taylor

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Hometown: Waldorf, MD
Madison Opera Debut:
Silvio, Pagliacci (2018)

Recently: Bello, La Fanciulla del West (Bayerische Staatsoper); Moralès, Carmen (Metropolitan Opera);
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Katerina Burton

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(National Symphony Orchestra); Britten’s War Requiem (Strathmore Music Center);
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