Transgressive Theatre-Opera

Transgressive Theatre-Opera is searching for an angel with a bedroom decorated in the art deco style who might willing to loan it to the company as the set for a short opera film.

If you are this angel, or know of an angel who might be persuaded to help us with this project, please contact Producing Artistic Director Aaron Hunt at [email protected].

Thank you in advance for your largess.

As the titular Figaro in Transgressive Theatre-Opera's "Le Nozze di Figaro, The Millennial Version," which premieres, oh when is it, TOMORROW at 7:00, Friday at 7:00, Saturday at 6:00 and Sunday, which is, I dunno, MOTHER'S DAY. at 3:00, all PM CST in the venue and on the electronic device on your choice, baritone Jonathan Wilson returns once again to delight us. Here is the famous link to those $10 tickets:
www.eventbrite.com/e/le-nozze-di-figaro-tickets-150624815879

Jonathan has been a much-beloved artist at TT-O since our second offerings in 2016 when he debuted with the company in Richard Wargo's The Seduction of A Lady, as Peter Semyonych. He has been with us for all three offerings this season, as Counsel in "Beauty's Truth," Giuseppe Naccarelli in "The Light In The Piazza," and now as The Figaro of The Hour. This is Jonathan's 8th production at TT-O. He is one of the three singers who have appeared the most frequently with the company, along with sopranos Teaira Burge (9 productions) and Mary Govertsen (10 productions).

TT-O was lucky to have snared Jonathan early in his performance career in Chicago for a production each calendar year from 2016-2018. His warm, flexible, wide-ranging voice, theatricality, and commitment to "the work" have made him one of the hottest commodities in the city, and booking him is no easy feat, as he has the choice of so many interesting productions and performing situations in which to involve himself. We were only able to have him with us all season because of productions and concert work that had to be shelved due to the pandemic, another blessing for the company to come out of this right mess.

Don't miss the fun this weekend, with this dynamite cast. Read a bit more about Jonathan below, have a look at some pics of his work with the company, oh, and use the link!

Roles with TT-O
Le Nozze di Figaro, The Millennial Version , Figaro, 2021
The Light In The Piazza, Giuseppe Naccarelli, 2021
Beauty's Truth, Counsel, 2020
Masque At Kenilworth, Quartet Bass Soloist, 2018
Trial By Jury, Ensemble, 2018
Cosi Fan Tutte, Gugliemo, 2018
The Best of the Worst, Various, 2017
The Seduction of A Lady, Peter Semyonych, 2016

Baritone Jonathan Wilson is delighted to be performing again with Transgressive Theatre-Opera after several appearances in previous seasons and most recently singing the role of Giuseppe Naccarelli in their charming production of The Light In The Piazza earlier this year. Praised by the Chicago Classical Review as a "superb actor" with a "resounding and luxurious" voice, Jonathan is an enthusiast of contemporary opera with recent favorite roles including Robert Dziekański in I will fly like a bird (Plant, Wainwright), The Poet in When Adonis Calls (Borzoni, de los Santos, Dillard), and Hannah-Before in As One (Kaminsky, Campbell, Reed).

With a reputation for sensitively straddling musical styles, Jonathan also recently performed as the titular character in Tom Waits' and Kathleen Brennan's adaptation of Woyzeck with Chicago Fringe Opera and has premiered many roles for new chamber operas and musical theater productions around the Chicago area.

Jonathan is also a frequent singer with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus, and Lyric Opera Chorus. Outside of performing, Jonathan is passionate about math and science and holds degrees from the University of Illinois and University of Michigan in physics, mathematics, and electromagnetics. He has worked in the cellular telecommunications industry as a radio frequency electrical engineer and in Chicago-area colleges as a lecturer of physics, astronomy, and Earth science. He greatly admires the creative overlap between the scientific and musical arts in their explorations of the intricacy, complexity, and beauty of the world.

Noah Gartner, one of the busiest baritones on the Chicago scene, is not easy to get on the company's roster for just that reason. TT-O is lucky to have him singing for us for the fifth time, and in a role which would always knew would suit him very well vocally, while requiring his fantastic acting talent, because the Count in "Le Nozze di Figaro" is about as far away from Noah as one can get. In the bad-guy-antagonist category, this Count is high on the operatic list, and Noah is one the gentlest, kindest souls you will ever meet. He was also joined us in the past as Guglielmo in "Cosi Fan Tutte," Raimbaud in "Count Ory," Assan in "The Consul," and as this very same Count in Act II of this opera, which was the Finale of our "Letters of Love and Subterfuge" concert.

Check out the show in your costume of choice at your very own swelling on Thursday or Friday, May 6 or 7 at 7:00 PM, Saturday, May 8 at 6:00, or Sunday, May 9 at 3:00 PM CST, streaming to you via the TT-O YouTube station. $10 tickets are available here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/le-nozze-di-figaro-tickets-150624815879

I'm going to include a few screenshots of his work in this show, to whet your appetite, and include a little more information about him below. Don't miss the opportunity to see Noah in this role!

Originally from New York, lyric baritone Noah Gartner has been performing throughout the Chicago area during the past 10 years; notably with Third Eye Theatre Ensemble (with which he is a company member), Main Street Opera​, Petite Opera, da Corneto Opera, Windy City Opera, and Handel Week Festival in Oak Park.His most recent performance in Third Eye Ensemble’s production of With Blood With Ink garnered high praise from Chicago Classical Review: “Noah Gartner’s firm baritone as Archbishop Seijas provided a finely etched characterization as well as the best singing of the evening.”​Favorite performances include Figaro (Barber of Seville), Valentin (Faust), the title role in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Ford (Falstaff), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Papageno (Magic Flute), Schaunard (La bohème), Alwan (Sumeida’s Song), and the title role in Petite Opera’s production of Brundibar alongside his wonderfully talented children – Paul and Aero.