Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Stage actress Kelli O'Hara

Sophisticates dismiss musicals as middlebrow knockoffs of opera.  Kelli O'Hara has done both.


The Oklahoma born Ms. O'Hara has done numerous Broadway shows and opera performances.  Not in Oklahoma!, alas but she did play Anna in a 2015 production of The King And I and she portrayed Susan, the leading female role, in the original 2002 Broadway production of Sweet Smell of Success, based on the 1957 movie of the same name.  Other roles include Nellie Forbush in a 2008 production of South Pacific and Babe Williams in a 2006 production of The Pajama Game.

Her opera repertoire includes the role of Valencienne in Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow (in 2014) and Despine in Mozart's Così fan tutte from this year (2018). Both performances were at the Metropolitan Opera.

Now that's versatility. :-)

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