Blind Injustice

Cast

Phillip K. Bullock (Derrick Wheatt), praised by Opera News for his “appealingly suave baritone,” has been featured in operas, recitals, and concerts throughout the United States and Europe. Bullock’s recent engagements include his appearance as Zodzetrick in Damien Sneed’s reimagining of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the roles of Cato and Watchman in Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith’s new, critically acclaimed opera, Castor and Patience, voted the Best New Opera of 2022 by the New York Times. Additionally, he premiered Diane White-Clayton’s commissioned work Many Mansions with Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Dave Brubeck’s Gates of Justice with the Brubeck Trio and University of California Los Angeles orchestras, and he joined American Opera Projects for Composers and the Voice: Six Scenes as well as creating the role of the God of Love in Long Beach Opera’s premiere The Romance of the Rose, written by Pulitzer nominee Kate Soper and directed by James Darrah.

Past season highlights include performances of Jake in Porgy and Bess at Semperoper Dresden, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and in the Royal Danish Opera production in Copenhagen. He appeared in performances of Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro and Antonio), La fanciulla del West (Jake Wallace), Don Carlos (Rodrigue), Carmen (Morales and Escamillo), Romeo et Juliette (Gregorio), Falstaff (Pistola), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Balthazar), Little Women (John Brooke), Faust (Valentin), The Magic Flute (Papageno), L’elisir d’amore (Belcore and Dulcamara), and Tosca (Angelotti).

Adrienne Danrich (Derrick’s Mother/Ensemble) has had her voice described as “fresh liquid-silver” and “meltingly tender in its high, floating vulnerability” by Opera News. Danrich made her San Francisco Opera stage debut as Micaela in Carmen. She made her professional debut as Pamina in Die Zaubeflöte with Kentucky Opera. She made debuts with Sarasota Opera, Opera Pacific, and Dayton Opera as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and her Lyric Opera of San Antonio debut as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. Danrich sang the role of Serena in Porgy and Bess with Dayton Opera and Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking with Fort Worth Opera. With Cincinnati Opera, she performed the High Priestess in Aida and Anna in Nabucco. Danrich also performed with Kenya Opera in various venues throughout Africa in Nairobi and Mombasa.

In 2006, Danrich received a commission from Cincinnati Opera to write and perform a one-woman show: This Little Light of Mine: The Stories of Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price. This production has since been presented over 50 times in various venues nationwide. PBS Milwaukee (MPTV) filmed and televised This Little Light of Mine, and Danrich won a Midwest Emmy® for Outstanding Achievement for On Camera Talent as a Performer and Narrator. Danrich is a native of St. Louis, MO, and is an alumna of Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Eric Shane Heatley (Rickey Jackson) is a singer, educator, and administrator who is excited to return to the inspiring role of Rickey Jackson for a second time. With a passion for new opera, especially those highlighting underrepresented voices, Heatley has performed in numerous new opera workshops, most recently as Hollis in the Two Corners workshop by Cincinnati Opera’s Opera Fusion New Works. Heatley has also appeared as Jake in Porgy and Bess with the Glimmerglass Festival and a touring production with the South Florida Symphony. After the world premiere performance of Blind Injustice in 2019, Heatley is looking forward to another opportunity to share this powerful and much needed opera with more audiences.

Marc Kudisch (Earl Mann/Ensemble) has been seen on and off Broadway and in modern opera, television, and film for the past 30 years, recently completing a costarring turn in Girl from the North Country at the Belasco Theatre, his 15th Broadway show. He has been nominated for the Tony Award three times, as Trevor Graydon in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Franklin Hart in 9 to 5, and is a Drama Desk Award winner for his work Off-Broadway in The Wayside Motor Inn at the Signature Theatre.

Opera credits include Carl Magnus in A Little Night Music for NYC Opera/LA Opera, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance for NYC Opera, and the world premieres of Henry Kissinger in A New Prince for Dutch National Opera, Joshua Crouch in Anatomy Theater for Prototype Festival/LA Opera, the Older Man in Trade for Prototype Festival/LA Opera, and Morris in Adoration for Prototype Festival. Concert/orchestral credits include the Boston Pops, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Philharmonic, the Ravinia Festival, Utah Symphony, and the Jerusalem Symphony. TV/film credits include Dr. Gus on Billions (Showtime), Ty Rathbone on The Tick (Amazon), Billy Kastner on Late Night (Amazon), and Roger Wade on Mindhunter (Netflix).

Joseph Lattanzi (Prosecutor) commands attention for his “robust vocalism,” “unmistakable charisma,” and “undeniable star potential.” Lattanzi established himself as a major artist in the current landscape of opera with his portrayal of Hawkins Fuller in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’s Fellow Travelers. The New York Times said, “Joseph Lattanzi was splendid as Hawk, his buttery baritone luxuriant and robust.” Praise for his work encompasses nearly 10 years of raves from audiences in Cincinnati, New York City, Chicago, Phoenix, Tucson, and Des Moines and critics from the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, Opera News, and Opera Now. He can be heard on the original cast recording of Fellow Travelers. His recorded work also includes the world premiere recording of Blind Injustice in addition to songs and duets with some of the music world’s finest interpreters.

Recent engagements include Paul Jobs in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at San Francisco Opera and a role and house debut as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore at Minnesota Opera. Future engagements include the title role of Don Giovanni at Arizona Opera and a world premiere with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Samuel Levine (Defense Attorney) was born in Boston and trained at the Juilliard School. The “wonderfully appealing,” “ardent tenor” (New York Times) regularly sings on many of the world’s finest stages, specializing in Wagnerian, Slavic, English, and contemporary repertoire. He has sung at the Hamburg Staatsoper, Oper Köln, Oper Frankfurt, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Irish National Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, and Houston Grand Opera as well as the Houston Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonie, and Carnegie Hall.

Recent highlights include the world premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino’s Venere e Adone in Hamburg under Kent Nagano, the title role of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at the Berlin Philharmonie, Skuratov/From the House of the Dead as well as Jimmy in the world premiere of Oryx and Crake in Wiesbaden, Edrisi/Krol Roger in Frankfurt under Sylvain Cambreling, Walther/Tannhäuser in Klagenfurt under Nicholas Carter, and Vogelgesang/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Frankfurt under Sebastian Weigle as well as in Mannheim under Alexander Soddy. He was a Young Artist at the Santa Fe Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and a Fellow at the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals. In the current season, he returns to Hamburg for more performances of Venere e Adone, joins Theater Bonn for Flight and Moses und Aron, and covers the Heldentenor role of Der Fremde for Netherlands Reisoper. He sang the role of the Defense at the world premiere of Blind Injustice for Cincinnati Opera in 2019.

Reilly Nelson (Nancy Smith), described by Opera News as “a revelation,” brings her “distinctly warm and burnished” sound to stages across North America and Europe. This past summer, Nelson returned to Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists Programme at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance. In the summer of 2022, she made her debut at the Glimmerglass Festival, portraying Gianna in the world premiere of Tenor Overboard, which garnered significant acclaim.

Nelson has showcased her talents with major symphony orchestras and opera companies in the USA, Canada, and abroad, including the Rochester Philharmonic, Reno Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, Cincinnati Opera, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, and the Glimmerglass Festival. Her artistic journey includes completion of Young Artist programs with Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Opera, Tanglewood Music Center, and Glimmerglass.

As a new resident of Toronto, Nelson has been establishing her reputation as an accomplished recitalist, giving performances with the JoM Collective and the Kingston Road United Church concert series. Notably, Nelson secured the second place in the 2023 Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition and earned a coveted spot as one of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques for the 2023–24 season.

A specialist in the works of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, Nelson was a winner of the 2018 Lotte Lenya Competition and achieved district victory in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. She holds a bachelor of music from the Eastman School of Music and has furthered her education with master’s and doctoral degrees in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Cincinnati. Currently, she is a student of Neil Semer.

Victoria Okafor (Alesha, a law student), a “silvery-voiced soprano…” (Seen and Heard International), is steadily making a name for herself in the world of musical theater and opera. She has sung with companies such as Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Birmingham, and Opera Columbus. Last season included performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Così fan tutte in concert with Newport Classical, a workshop of Robeson with Cincinnati Opera, performances of Clorinda in La Cenerentola with Kentucky Opera, and Utah Festival Opera’s summer 2023 season of Lohengrin, Elton John’s AIDA, and Oliver.

A recent highlight was placing second in the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition. Okafor also returned to her alma mater, Shenandoah Conservatory, to perform Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Shenandoah Symphony as well as William Grant Still’s From the Hearts of Women.

During the COVID pandemic, Okafor was a part of numerous projects, like Angela Brown’s From a Sistah’s Point of View, Mozart’s Requiem with the Kentucky Symphony, and Cincinnati Opera at 100 with Cincinnati Opera. She also received an encouragement award in the Kentucky District for the Metropolitan National Council Competition.

Okafor made her début with Cincinnati Opera as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, followed by the role of Alesha in the opera Blind Injustice, which she created during the opera’s original workshop. She has also originated the roles of Wilhelmina in Gregory Spears’s Castor and Patience, Nyomi in William Menefield’s Fierce, and Laura in Kevin Puts’s The Hours.

Okafor is a native of the DC/Maryland area and holds degrees from Shenandoah Conservatory and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a BM in voice performance, an MM in voice performance, and an AD in opera performance.

Kyle Oliver (Earl Mann’s Cellmate/Edward Vernon/Ensemble) 2022 performances included Zurga in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers with Sarasota Opera as well as a concert preview of American one-act operas with Little Opera Theatre of New York at NYC’s Merkin Hall. He sang Méphistophélès and Ramiro in Faust et Hélène and L’heure espagnol with New Camerata Opera, directed by John de los Santos, and made company and role debuts as Johannes Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up and Bob in Highway 1 USA by William Grant Still with the Opera Ithaca Festival. In 2023 Oliver joined Opera Theatre of St. Louis for their New Works Collective, debuted with White Snake Projects as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and sang Baron Douphol at Tulsa Opera in La traviata. In previous seasons he appeared with Pittsburgh Opera, Caramoor Opera, Loft Opera, and Teatro Nuovo.

Orson Van Gay II (Laurese Glover) has captivated audiences in classical and contemporary opera and concert performances with his charisma and “fine heroic tenor” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Van Gay has garnered acclaim for roles in his home of Southern California and across the United States. His 2023–24 concert season includes solo appearances with the Muse/ique Symphony, Redlands Symphony Orchestra, and performances of Mozart’s Requiem with the Modesto Symphony. He also voices the role of Tamino in Pocket Opera’s animated/live-action film version of A Pocket Magic Flute, to be shown in schools and educational programs in conjunction with the San Francisco Opera Guild. In November of 2023, Van Gay self-released his first solo album, Colors of a Lyric, with pianist Lenny Hayes.

Van Gay’s recent operatic roles have included Danilo in The Merry Widow, for which he earned Pocket Opera’s inaugural Hurst Artist of the Year Award in 2022; Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice; Alfredo in La traviata with Piedmont Opera; the title role of Candide with Angels Vocal Art; Orlando in The Industry’s site-specific production of Hopscotch; and the Athlete in I Can’t Breathe and Rodolfo in La bohème with Pacific Opera Project. A frequent performer with Long Beach Opera, Van Gay has been seen as Vitaliano in Handel’s Giustino, Gérard in Les enfants terribles, and Raymond Santana in Anthony Davis’s Pulitzer Prize–winning opera, The Central Park Five, a role Van Gay premiered with the same company in 2019. Van Gay often performs with the Los Angeles Opera, most recently as the Messenger in Il trovatore and as Ramerrez in The Prospector. He debuted the role of Bernard Curson (aka “Cherubino”) in the world premiere of Figaro 90210!, and has sung in the company’s Connects, City of Hope, and I AM LA series.

Logan Wagner (Clarence Elkins), noted for his “expressive stage skills” and “powerfully transformative” voice, is a highly sought-after young artist. Wagner grew up in Villa Hills, KY. An advocate for contemporary opera, Wagner originated the role of Boy in a workshop of Bulrusher by Nathaniel Stookey at Cincinnati Opera. With Cincinnati Opera’s Opera Fusion: New Works, Wagner also originated the roles of Sergei Eisenstein and Carl Van Vechten in Robeson/Moscow by Scott Davenport Richards. Comfortable in both musical theater and opera, Wagner was seen as a principal artist at Utah Festival Opera, where he performed the roles of Monostatos in The Magic Flute and Padre in Man of La Mancha and covered Martin in The Tender Land. In 2023, Wagner joined Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) as an apprentice artist. While at DMMO he covered the role of Jumper in Zach Redler and Jerre Dye’s new American opera, The Falling and the Rising. Wagner made his Dayton Opera debut as Beadle Bamford in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. He then sang the roles of Marcellus and the Second Gravedigger in Thomas’s Hamlet with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. This performance was conducted by Maestro Louis Langrée and was in collaboration with Opéra-Comique in Paris. In the summer of 2024, Wagner will join Wolf Trap Opera as a studio artist to sing the Brother in Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins with the National Orchestra Institute. At the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Wagner has sung Orfeo in L’Orfeo, Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, L’Aumonier in Poulenc’s haunting opera Les dialogues des Carmélites, and Timothy Laughlin in Gregory Spears’s contemporary masterpiece, Fellow Travelers.

Wagner began his operatic studies at CCM, graduating with his bachelor of music in 2020 and master of music in 2023. Wagner is currently based in Cincinnati, OH.

Miles Wilson-Toliver (Eugene Johnson) is a Grammy-considered singer and music director who excels at educating, connecting, and transforming individuals and communities through diverse musical genres and programs. Classically trained in opera with expertise in musical theater, jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, and music of the African diaspora, he is committed to expanding opportunities to historically marginalized groups with a proven track record in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) in the arts. He is adept at leading, instructing, and mentoring performers to optimize their musical and sound capabilities. A passionate choral director with over a decade of organizing and strengthening vocal and instrumental groups for traditional and contemporary church worship services, he also has extensive experience teaching in private, classroom, and workshop settings. He is also proficient in the development and administration of performing arts programs, including curriculum and concert design and implementation.