BIRTHPLACE:
Chicago, Illinois

MET DEBUT:
Amelia in Verdi’s
Un Ballo in Maschera,
Oct. 17, 1991

THIS SEASON:
The title role of Strauss’s
Die Ägyptische Helena


Stardom came quickly after a rave in The New York Times for her 1991 performances with Lyric Opera of Boston in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos
Left school where she was studying choral conducting to become a computer operator by day, choral singer at Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in California by night
Garnered headlines when a “little black dress” went on stage at Covent Garden without her, and again when she frankly revealed she’d had gastric bypass surgery
On Die Ägyptische Helena: “It’s perilously Straussian— you have a big orchestra, and it’s a big sing! But who wouldn’t want to play the world’s most beautiful woman? Much better than having a sack thrown over you!”
On divahood: “Women who excel in any field—whether on the opera stage or in a corporate board-room—have earned the right to be thought of as divas. It can be daunting to live up to the high expectations, but that helps us push ourselves as artists, which is key to a fulfilling career.”