Bellissima: Future Perfect

Carl Ratner (Oxóssi)

Carl Ratner began his career assisting directors at the world’s major opera houses, including Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Munich Opera, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, among others.  He served as Artistic Director of Chicago Opera Theater from 1994-1999, and of Chamber Opera Chicago from 1985-1993.  An accomplished baritone, he has performed the title roles in Verdi’s Falstaff and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, as well as Papageno in The Magic Flute and John Proctor in The Crucible.  A frequent soloist for oratorio, he has sung Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and many other concert works.  He directed and created the role of the Lebanon Health Care Worker in the world premiere of On Call: COVID-10 at Bellissima Opera.  He most recently directed Verdi’s La Traviata and performed the role of the Doctor for South Bend Lyric Opera. He has sung in 14 languages and has performed in 7 countries, 10 states, and the District of Columbia.  He studied at Oberlin, NEIU, Northwestern, Juilliard, and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in Russia through a Fulbright grant. He currently serves as Co-chair of Voice and Director of Opera at Western Michigan University.

Wydetta Carter (Narrator)

Wydetta Carter is thrilled to be a part of the premier of the opera Future Perfect.  As a part of the Chicago Cabaret Professionals, so many doors have opened to meeting fellow musicians, sharing music and learning something new from each artist encounter.   Wydetta is the host of CCP’s CABARET BEAT and is also a seasoned Equity actress.  Chicagoland credits include Porgy and Bess (Court Theatre), Menopause the Musical (Apollo Theatre), Unspeakable (Broadway Playhouse), Hats! The Musical (Royal George Theatre), and Footloose and The Bridges of Madison County (Marriott Theatre).  Other favorites include The Bikinis (The Hippodrome Theatre), Hairspray (Alhambra Theatre), All Shook Up (LTOS), Festival of The Lion King (Hong Kong-Disney), The Trojan Women (Shakespeare Theatre of D.C.), and Sr. Hubert in Nunsense, Nunsensations, and Nuncrackers.

Susan Lewis Friedman (Rosetta)

Susan Lewis Friedman is a Cantor, the clergy person who oversees music and sings the prayers in the Progressive Movement of Judaism, and has served at Temple Jeremiah in Northfield, IL since 2018.  Prior to the cantorate, she has been seen on the stages of musical theater, regional opera, and in symphonic concerts throughout the U.S.  She played leading roles in the Broadway National Tour of Cats, regional productions of The Producers, Barnum, Swingtime Canteen, and Sweeney Todd, to name a few.  She has sung roles with Des Moines Metro Opera, Nevada Opera, Phoenix Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra with Leon Botstein, and Brooklyn Philharmonic.  She has performed with artists such as Betty Buckley, Alberto Mizrahi, George S. Irving, and composer/musician Anthony Newman.  She can be heard on the recording of his world premiere opera, Nicole and the Trial of the Century.  She is a composer/arranger of Jewish music and recently released an album of her original songs entitled Sing, Pray, Repeat!  Susie collaborates with pianist Paul Dykstra in a concert of music by composers of the Theresienstadt ghetto in the Holocaust, which they recently performed in a benefit for the Virginia Holocaust Museum.  Her music has been heard on Jewish Rock Radio.  She met her husband, Ross Friedman, on a Mississippi riverboat cruise where she was an entertainer and he was the Chief Purser. Their greatest achievements are their beloved children, Abigail (9) and Zev (7).

Rose Guccione (Baubo)

Rose Guccione is an opera singer, actress, educator, and entrepreneur.  Rose has sung extensively in the Chicagoland area (including 20 years at Lyric Opera of Chicago and ten productions with Chicago Folks Operetta), Europe, and South Africa.  Her acting credits include Late Nite Catechism (ongoing at Greenhouse Theater Center), The Dinner Detective (ongoing at Chicago and Schaumburg locations), Alegrías y Lâígrimas (Instituto Cervantes de Chicago), Üfo (iO)!, The View Upstairs (Pride Films & Plays), Los Cálices Vacíos (Instituto Cervantes de Chicago), Lydia (The National Pastime Theater), Living Large in a Mini Kind of Way (16th Street Theatre), and several sketch comedy and improv shows with Salsation Theatre Company.  Rose is a faculty member in the Theatre Arts & Music Department of Dominican University in River Forest, IL, where she teaches music and arts entrepreneurship courses.  Her singing telegram company, OperaGram.com®, has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, on NBC5 Chicago, with radio legend John Landecker, and several other media outlets. Read more at RoseGuccione.com.

Christine Steyer (Flanna)

See bio under librettist

Brian Allen Pember Jr (Leggo)

Brian Allen Pember, Jr., tenor, is stationed in the great city of Chicago by way of Scranton, PA, and an alumni of Westminster Choir College ’17 where they studied with Charles Walker.  They most recently appeared on stage with Chicago Opera Theatre in the world premiere of Quamino’s Map and with Thompson Street Opera Company in the joint premiere of The Death of Ivan Ilych as Gerasim. Before this, they appeared on the original cast recording for Paul Scherer’s La Trout Lily (Benedict), and on the screen in KJR Studio’s Die Fledermaus (Eisenstein). Other credits include Frederic in GS Opera Company of Chicago’s Pirates of Penzance, Marty Manning in the world premiere of Olivia Popp’s Double Vision, and the ensemble with Chicago Opera Theater for their Chicago premieres of Iolanta and Moby Dick.

Sarah Kropski (Juniper)

is a soprano soloist and mainstage performer in the Chicagoland area, as well as a collaborator and performer of children’s sing-a-long programs at libraries and a recital series educating audiences on a variety of classical soprano traditions and styles.  Sarah is a member of the original cast of Jane Austen’s Persuasion: A Musical Drama, and has performed the role of Henrietta in numerous international productions with Chamber Opera Chicago.  Other credits include: Liesl in The Sound of Music and Kitty in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Chamber Opera Chicago),Rapunzel in Into the Woods (Southland Area Theatre Ensemble), and Phyllis in Iolanthe (Prairie Fire Theater).  Recently, she was featured as an artist on the Youtube world premiere of Elizabeth Rudolph’s “Circles, Cycles & Seasons”.  Sarah earned a Vocal Performance degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and is the recipient of a Bella Voce Award from Chicago’s Bel Canto Foundation.  She works during the school year as a project specialist for the Music & Theatre Department and Performing Arts Division of New Trier High School.

Jeffrey Goldberg (Iscovan)

With a voice praised as “rousing, full-throated,” and “ringing,” (San Diego Story), Southern California baritone Jeffrey Goldberg has performed the roles of Gugliemo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Dr. Falke and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, Claudio in Berlioz’s Beatrice et Benedict, Bartolo and Antonio in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Peter in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Simone in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Howard in the Chicago premiere of Dog Days by David T. Little, as well as several partial roles.  He has also performed with Pacific Symphony in their Opera for Kids! productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.  On the concert stage, he has performed as soloist in several beloved masterworks including Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.  He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Voice and Opera, and Chapman University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance.

Peter Stigdon (Kai, Rehearsal Pianist, Assistant Music Director intern)

Peter Stigdon is a newly professional Chicago-area musician. After his first piano recital at age six, Peter fell in love with performing and knew what he would do for the rest of his life.  He recently completed his undergraduate studies at Concordia University Chicago, with concentrations in harp, organ, and composition.  While a lover of all music, Peter takes a particular interest in contemporary music and seeks to explore and share unfamiliar (and sometimes challenging) repertoire.  He is excited to be joining Bellissima Opera for this inspiring project.

Dominique Frigo (Asintmah)

Dominique Frigo, mezzo-soprano, has sung for many venues in the Midwest. She also routinely performs in New York with the Botti Opera Showcase.  Her repertoire includes contemporary, Baroque and Classical music, and she has performed the alto solos for Handel’s Messiah, the Vivaldi Magnificat, the Vivaldi Gloria, the Bach Magnificat, and the Bach B Minor Mass.  She was a finalist with the Bel Canto Chorus, a semi-finalist with the Lotte Lehman Foundation’s art song competition, and a semi-finalist with the Center for Contemporary Opera’s International Opera Singers’ competition.  She has also performed numerous operatic roles with regional opera companies including La Principessa in Suor Angelica, Zita in Gianni Schicchi, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and Maddalena in Rigoletto.

Katie Rub (Paloma)

Katie Rub graduated from Concordia University Chicago in 2019 with a B.A. in Theater.  During her time at Concordia, she was heavily involved in both the theater and music programs.  She was cast as the Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha, Edith in Pirates of Penzance, and Polly Peachum in Threepenny Opera, and was also seen as Queen Hermione in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, and Queen Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Katie won several awards from the theater department and was nominated for an Irene Ryan Acting Award.  She also sang in Kapelle, Concordia’s premiere touring choir, and in four Honors recitals for the Music Department.  Recently, she sang in the virtual chorus for On-Call: COVID-19, the world’s first opera performed via Zoom.  Katie was last seen as the Dew Fairy in the opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck.

Hailey Cohen (Ember, also Asintmah cover)

Hailey Cohen is thrilled to be joining the cast of Future Perfect!  Hailing from Edgemont, NY, mezzo-soprano Cohen is quickly gaining recognition on the operatic stage and in concert.  Recent opera credits include Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Littler Daughter in Missy Mazzoli’s opera Proving Up, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Goddess of Hope in the virtual opera Droplet.  Cohen completed her studies at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance in 2021 and was awarded the Underwood-Alger Scholarship for her studies.

Kaleb Nuesse (Edeyrn)

Kaleb Nuesse, baritone, is a third-year student at Western Michigan University originally from Bourbonnais, Illinois.  He is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music education and studies voice under Dr. Karen Kness.  He was featured in the chorus of WMU’s production of Così fan Tutte in 2019 and performed the characters of Peter Harrison in the collegiate premiere of On Call: COVID-19 and Leporello in Don Giovanni in 2021.  Nuesse is a member of University Chorale, WMU’s premier choral ensemble.  He is also a member of several extracurricular organizations on campus including one of Western’s three a cappella groups, No Strings Attached, and the WMU chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.”

Suzanne Walsh (Verbena)

Suzanne Walsh is a native Oak Parker and has studied voice with teachers from Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Concordia University. She has sung in the Oak Park choirs Heritage Chorale and City Voices, has studied acting at the Artistic Home in Chicago, and enjoys performing improv and stand up comedy. She currently studies voice with Christine Steyer and is thrilled to have the opportunity to sing in Future Perfect.  By day, Suzanne is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Oak Park.