Proximity program updates
For this performance of Proximity:
Ron Dukes, who was scheduled to sing the role of Chief’s Son #1 and Passenger 8, is ill and unable to perform this evening.
Vince Wallace will perform the role of Chief’s Son #1 and Nikolas Wenzel will perform the role of Passenger 8.
Vince Wallace | Chief’s Son #1
The American bass-baritone has made frequent ensemble appearances at Lyric, and played the Commissioner in La traviata (2018/19) and Court Usher in Rigoletto (2017/18). Last season, he performed in the ensemble for Fire Shut Up In My Bones (2021/22) at the Metropolitan Opera. At Chicago Opera Theater, he took the roles of Sid in Albert Herring (2023), Tommie in Freedom Ride (2020, world premiere), Queequeg in Moby Dick (2019), and Mr. Kofner/The Consul and Mr. Lister/Elizabeth Cree (2017/18). With Lyric Unlimited in 2016, he performed the role of Orpheus in Jason and the Argonauts. Previous highlights include the title role in Le nozze di Figaro as a part of Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, Superintendent Budd in Britten’s Albert Herring, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Jailor in Tosca with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Benoit and Alcindoro in La boheme, both Leporello and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni with American Chamber Orchestra, The King in The King & I, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and Uncle Max in The Sound of Music. Solo orchestral performances include appearances as Pilatus in the St. John Passion and Judas and Jesus in St. Matthew's Passion. In 2013, he performed the role of Mordcha in Fiddler on the Roof with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, and was awarded 1st Place in the Utah Festival Opera Concorso Lirico International Opera Competition which lead to his being sent to Alessandria, Italy to represent the United States as an international finalist in the Concorso Internazionale di Musica, “Cappuccilli - Patané - Respighi.”
Nikolas Wenzel | Passenger 8
The bass-baritone made his debut with Lyric Opera in 2016, appearing as the Second Trojan Soldier in Berlioz's Les Troyens. He has since appeared in a wide range of roles with the company, most notably as Flora's Servant in La traviata (2019/20), the Sergeant in La bohème (2018/19), and the Bass of the Cockney Quartet in My Fair Lady (2016/17). Wenzel has performed as a soloist with other leading opera companies, including the Madison Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and Opera Theatre St. Louis, and is a three-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.