Blog

Oh My Memphis #2

2012-01-24T10:30:00Z

After selling out our first Die Fledermuas here at Memphis Opera, we have only 100+ seats left for our last performance.

To come back "home" to Memphis and find so much incredible love and caring, one can only become a happy artist. Ms. Worra and I have found ourselves in many operas over the years. From Merry Widow, Carmen, to Carnegie and once again back into Die Fledermuas. It's my pleasure to say that she sings the crap out of Rosalinda, and is the friend from the past that has observed my many transformations. Real people make real colleagues.

I will always remember Caroline walking down the center isle of the bus during the SFO Western Opera Theatre Die Fledermaus tour with a make-shift Card-earned Crown. Woe to thee that might find her with a deck or two of cards and the word NERTS on her tongue. You have been warned. She shared an isle with me for nearly 30+ performances of Die Fledermaus. I'm lucky to sing with her again. She will beat you at cards. She might let you win.

Some great reviews:

Memphis Flyer

Commercial appeal

I know the audience will have a grand experience.

Photographer Sean Davis

Pictures from Memphis!

2012-01-22T10:42:19Z

We opened to a sold-out crowd tonight! Thank you Memphis. I'd love to share some pictures!

Welcome to TennesseeThe Peabody Ducks

Mr. Handy's Blues HallThis needs little descriptionSometimes jobs overlapA great night with the Memphis Roller Derby crew!One must stop at the Germantown CommissaryThe Germantown Performing Arts Complex on the first day.
The Clark Opera Memphis Center.Rosalinda, Eisenstein and Alfred (me).Frosh, Frank, Adele and SallyOne of the trains coming straight through town.A backstage pic taken during act two. Thank you Memphis

Oh My Memphis!!

2011-12-30T05:57:15Z

I've been invited back to one of my "hometown" cities. Opera Memphis has invited me back to what was once my home.

I lived in Memphis for quite a few years while globe-trotting as a singer and opening a successful yoga studio, and it's amazing to go through the town while seeing my old haunts and connecting with friends that have been, until this month, geographically unavailable. The experience of being back is reminiscent to rereading a favorite book that has been on the shelf for years.

When Michael Ching was running Opera Memphis, he was commissioned by the University of Missouri (MU) to write Corps of Discovery, a beautiful Opera/Theatre piece based on the journey of Lewis and Clark that traveled to the Kennedy Center, Monticello, Constitution Hall and Carnegie Hall's Weil Recital Hall. Through this, Michael and I created a friendship that continues to this day. Through that relationship, my first professional La Bohème was created in the beautiful Clark Opera Memphis Center here in Memphis, Tennessee . The years after included Memphis performances of Corps of Discovery, The Merry Widow and John Hoomes beautiful Rigoletto which we remounted at Nashville Opera in 2010.Rigoletto at Opera Memphis and Nashville Opera

So here I am, back in a town in which I've owned a home, cultivated a circle of friends, built a business from nothing and turned a page on my life. I've only been in town for a few days, but I find myself walking through the local Whole Foods, or driving down the street expecting to see an old friend or past yoga client. This city holds some fine old ghosts in my mind, and I can't wait to see them all again.Our Fledermaus group is top notch. Caroline Worra (Rosalinda) and I have known each other for many years. We were both students at MU years ago and lost touch until reunited by San Francisco Opera's Merola Program and their Western Opera Theatre North American tour. What show did we perform? Die Fledermaus. To make the reunion even more cathartic... our Memphis conductor is the amazing Steven Osgood who was our musical leader through the entire North American San Francisco Opera tour.

While I'm just getting to know the rest of the cast, I assure you that Ned Canty, Opera Memphis' new General Director, has assembled a fantastic cast and chorus that sound fantastic.

I'll keep you posted, but being kinda home is weird, wonderful and comforting. I can't wait to see what we create and I'll keep you posted on the BBQ adventures as I come back home.

Boheme Live-Stream with OperaMission.org

2011-08-21T18:52:21Z

Hi all!

I'll be joining OperaMission for their Assembly Required series. Please join us!!

• Cast members from — La Scala, the Met, the old New York City Opera, Teatro Colon, Glimmerglass, and all over

• Full orchestra, unrehearsed, assembled on the spot

• Hosted by — conductor Jennifer Peterson, directors Eric Einhorn (I), Jonathon Field (II, III), Marc Verzatt (IV), dramaturg Cori Ellison

• Audience encouraged to interact digitally

• Live videostreaming via Ustream

Act II – Sunday, August 21, 7-10pm

CAST: Roseanne Ackerley, Sharin Apostolou, Ryan MacPherson, Kenneth Overton, Michael Weyandt, Cory Clines, Ryan Allen

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Jonathon Field, Cori Ellison

Act III – Tuesday, August 23, 7-10pm

CAST: Kerri Marcinko, Caroline Worra, Ryan MacPherson, James Bobick

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Jonathon Field, Cori Ellison

Act IV – Sunday, August 28, 7-10pm

CAST: Kerri Marcinko, Caroline Worra, Ryan MacPherson, Gregory Gerbrandt, Michael Weyandt, Kevin Burdette

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Marc Verzatt, Cori Ellison

Click to view the press release, the postcard, and the program.

From Verdi to Barber

2011-05-03T23:31:32Z

Greetings from Vienna!

After a Sunday Matinee of La Traviata in Tampa I went straigt to the airport to head out for Vienna!

I'm excited to reprise a role that I performed back in 2007 at NYCO with Kathy Goeldner, Lauren Flannigin, Richard Stillwell and the great Rosalind Elias. This Friday might be the first time this opera has been performed here in Austia since the 50's! So what else could I say? Yes! Yes! The Ochestra and the chorus sound amazing. I feel very blessed already.

inside the ORF Studios

My cohorts for this adventure are the lovely Joyce Castel, Kathy Goeldner, Carlotta Larsson and Johannes Mannov. We're preforming at the Wiener Konzerthaus this Friday the 6th. There will also be a radio broadcast the next day! that link can be fould here: http://oe1.orf.at/programm/273971

Please come, or try to tune in to the broadcast! It is a fantastic powerful piece of music.

Opera Tampa's La Traviata has opened with great success!

2011-05-01T15:18:34Z

In what St. Petersburg Times calls "a soaring triumph!" Opera Tampa opened their last show of the season with an incredible La Traviata.

It was ten years ago that I was on this stage for Anton Coppola's Sacco and Vanzetti. And now I have the privilege to work under the Maestro's baton once again. And that is not the only reunion. Elizabeth deTrejo (Violetta) is a dear friend of mine from back in graduate school at Yale University. It was over ten years ago that we shared the Schubert stage in New Haven in La Boheme. Such a small world.

Here's a quick picture I snapped as I had the pleasure to sit down with not only Maestro Coppola, but the wonderful Verdi Baritone, Sherrill Milnes last night at the "A Taste of Tampa Bay" event.

One matinee left, and then I jump on a plane and head to Vienna, Austria!

Gotta run!!

Opera Santa Barbara Traviata Broadcast 4/7/11

2011-03-24T20:04:59Z

Great news for those that missed it! There will be a one evening brooadcast of Opera Santa Barbara's La Traviata on Santa Barbara's kdb.com. The broadcast will air Sunday April 7th at 7pm Pacific.

It was a great performance! Please tune in!

My sincere apologies for those that tried to here the performance. The dates given were not correct. I'm very sorry.

Some pictures and reviews from LBO's Medea

2011-02-10T17:39:52Z

Big thanks to LBO for making Medea such a wonderful experience! Here are some pictures and reviews!

"...tenor star Ryan MacPherson made a dashing Jason"

"Ryan MacPherson proved a dynamically handsome, full-voiced Jason"

"Ryan MacPherson acted and sang with authority as the unfortunate Jason"

"Ryan MacPherson takes on the role as Médée’s spurning husband, Jason. The ruggedly dashing tenor can look good in anything, especially a white tuxedo. No matter the circumstances, his voice has steely grit and relentless passion, and he creates a wake of unblemished clarity and fortitude."

Opera News also had some great things to say!

We love you Honey!!! The magazine version... kinda.

2011-02-02T04:16:33Z

...Missouri native tenor Ryan MacPherson has led a similarly busy career. His upcoming performances including Tom in The Rake’s Progress with Toledo Opera, Handel’s Messiah with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and a reprisal of Alfredo in La Traviata with Opera Santa Barbara and Opera Tampa, a role he learned at Glimmerglass Opera. How did this “dashing presence,” as the New York Times called him, grow up? Ryan’s mother Diane says that while she and her husband Jerry always liked to sing with their son, it was “not something we made a big deal about—it was just something that came naturally.”

She noticed that Ryan would sing parts of songs to himself when he was two years old, and when he was three, she taught him to harmonize to "Home on the Range." Because “there weren’t a lot of people who wanted to teach voice at the first grade level,” she says, Ryan wasn’t able to start voice lessons until high school, when he studied with the founder of a local community music school. There he learned how to “stand up correctly, wear a suit and tie, acknowledge the pianist” and other fundamentals of being a performer. Ryan took a dance class “because of all the pretty girls,” his mother surmises, and continued singing in church and student productions.

Mrs. MacPherson attributes some of Ryan’s interest in performing with his exposure to elements of performance in other ways. His aunt bought him a horse, for example, and he loved showing the horse in competitions and the costumes that went along with horse showing. After Ryan’s second year at the University of Missouri-Columbia, his teacher advised him to pursue only opera, not musical theatre or choral works. As a college student, he sang with the St. Louis Opera chorus—and after that, “it has been a whirlwind since Yale accepted him” for graduate studies, says Mrs. MacPherson.

“As a parent, you’re protective,” she says, noting that Ryan would have to perform one role while preparing for the next. “He’d be tired, and I’d think, ‘You’re working him to death!’ You see him exhausted, but you know that’s what’s needed” for a successful career. Mrs. MacPherson notes that even as his career has progressed, he still calls home every Sunday.

Seven years between performances

2011-01-30T10:15:09Z

Back in 2004 I made my debut here at LBO in Die schweigsame Frau. Back then Andreas Mitisek(photo below) was making his own debut as the head of this small strong company with a history of pushing the boundaries of both common and uncommon opera. During that production period, Andreas could often be found with a cell-phone in one hand and a baton in the other. While finding his place as head of a new company and the logistics therein, he was also producing and conducting both Schweigsame and Maria de Buenos Aries. I even remember him arranging moving-truck reservations for our load-in into the theatre while conducting a crazy fugue in the Strauss.

Fast forward seven years where I'm back as Jason in Medea. Andreas still likes to wear many hats within the company, but the company has grown and I'm impressed. It's so wonderful to see more employees and volunteers around the new and expanded office. The fact that the company is taking advantage of wonderful guest housing (see pic below), and providing bicycles, while hiring smart stage management just makes me smile. They've been able to grow their subscriber base and have been able to operate without a deficit. Not many opera companies can say that.

The company doesn't have their own theatre, but they use some of the many different venues around Long Beach, with Andreas preferring the more uncommon spaces. An opera on the Queen Mary? An empty public swimming pool? A parking garage? Or take our current venue... a reclaimed furniture warehouse. It's hard to fathom all of the hard work that went into making this raw space into such an engaging environment. The crew and volunteers have spent many many late nights here. Imagine starting with a bare warehouse without infrastructure for lighting (do the circuit-breakers even have enough juice?); No seating (seats? what seats?); Max Occupancy (let's call the fire chief)? Bathrooms? Parking? You get the idea. LBO has gone out of it's way to bring an amazing opera to the public in a fun non-conventional location. Sure, they could rent a theatre like so many other opera companies and not have to worry about these things, but that's all been done before.

We're staged "in-the-round" with the audience at floor level and the cast on raised platforms. Surprisingly, keeping our circulation going while trying to remain semi-still on the stage for 30-45 minute intervals continues to be a major challenge. Not to mention the light-headedness one gets from standing up quickly to sing after "actively" laying down for half an hour. Wheee! Dizzy and singing with half of your body asleep makes for a performance situation like no other. But it works well and the opening night audience went crazy for the production.

I have to run now, but here's a very nice review from Mark Swed and the LA Times concerning our opening night. Our last performance is sold out but there are a few scattered tickets left for the Saturday matinee. Come see us if you have a chance!