Michael Mayes Reconnects With Early Career Roots For RIGOLETO At Shreveport Opera

Baritone Michael Mayes returns to Louisiana to sing the title role in Verdi's Rigoletto for one night only on March 26, 2022 at Shreveport Opera. In recent seasons, Rigoletto has become a staple for Mayes, who garnered great critical acclaim for his portrayal of the iconic Verdi role with companies including Houston Grand Opera and Boston Lyric Opera.

Shreveport Opera provided leading roles for Mayes early in his career, including Danilo in The Merry Widow and the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Since then, the American baritone's star has risen to international prominence. His career has flourished in no small part thanks to his indelible performance of Joseph de Rocher in Heggie's Dead Man Walking. Michael has sung Dead Man Walking with multiple US theaters including Washington National Opera and made his debut in that same role in 2018 with Teatro Real and the Barbican. In praise of his De Rocher, Opera News wrote, "Michael Mayes, in his sixth production of the opera, embodied the conflicted character of Joseph De Rocher with an almost eerie intensity. . . this was a consummate performance, powerfully sung and acted". Michael's triumphant debut as de Rocher in Spain and the United Kingdom quickly launched him into leading roles in several additional international opera companies, including the title role in Nixon in China and Thoas in Iphigénie en Tauride with Staatsoper Stuttgart, Sweeney Todd with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, an acclaimed debut as Bluebeard in an innovative production by Theater of Sound (UK) and Dead Man Walking with New Israeli Opera.

Although Mayes is now sought after by the most well-known companies in the world, he never forgot his operatic roots. He recently shared his thoughts on what this return to Shreveport means to him: "I made my debut at Shreveport opera 12 years ago. In those years, Shreveport Opera was one of the few companies that would give me the time of day. It was at places like Shreveport Opera that I would get my education about what it means to tell a story in the operatic genre. At the time I was often beset with episodes of consternation at my exclusion from the large American Opera companies; in retrospect, I will always be grateful to Shreveport Opera for the incredible gift they gave me with mentorship from men like Dean Anthony, Jerome Shannon, and Steve Aiken. I've always believed that you should "dance with them that brung ya," and I am looking forward to making my way around the dancefloor with them one more time when I sing Rigoletto there this March."

For more information, visit shreveportopera.org/rigoletto

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