Elk Grove opera singer to perform at Metropolis

Elk Grove Village native Paul Corona hopes he’s on the cusp of a major international opera career, especially after making his Metropolitan Opera debut in New York this past season. But in the meantime, the 27-year-old bass-baritone is happy to perform close to home.

On Friday, Aug. 26, Corona teams up with soprano Angela Mannino to perform a double concert engagement titled “Some Enchanted Evening” at the Metropolis Ballroom in Arlington Heights. The two are set to sing 30 minutes worth of duets at a dinner show in the venue’s Vail Campbell Room, then offer more opera and Broadway favorites for a 45-minute concert in the main ballroom with local youth soprano Jessie Ann Bolash.

“We’re doing this concert to try and spread a little more opera out into the suburbs,” Corona said during a recent telephone interview.

Corona also recently performed with Mannino Aug. 20 for a recital at St. Giles Episcopal Church in Northbrook, where he was a former St. Giles Choir section leader.

Corona says these summer concerts are a way for him to give back to the community that helped shape his music career.

“Elk Grove High School is what crafted me into the musician that I am,” Corona said, ticking off his involvement with school ensembles like jazz band, orchestra, choir, barbershop quartet and the Towne Criers vocal group.

It was Elk Grove High choral instructors like Jerry Swanson and Carl Lawrenz who helped steer Corona toward opera. In fact, Lawrenz is still one of Corona’s vocal coaches.

Corona’s operatic career started taking off before he even finished up at Northwestern University. In his senior year, he was named one of five winners in the 2006 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at age 22.

But even before the Met competition, Corona was already cast as the buffoonish harem guard Osmin in Chicago Opera Theater’s 2006 production of Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio.” Corona was initially cast as an understudy (known in the opera world as a cover), but was later bumped up to the full role.

“Paul is a larger-than-life character and, somewhat amazingly at his tender age, gave completely confident and authoritative performances of the kind one might expect from a 30 year old, but surprising in an early 20-something,” said Chicago Opera Theater general director Brian Dickie about Corona’s early casting.

“That was my first professional role with an opera company, and I was shirtless in it,” Corona said with a laugh, remembering one scene in a hot tub of sorts. “That was a funny way to break into the business.”

More Chicago Opera Theater roles followed in Monteverdi’s “The Return of Ulysses” and Berlioz’s “Beatrice et Benedict” before Corona was accepted into the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center for young artists.

From 2007 to 2010, Corona understudied major roles and performed smaller parts alongside internationally acclaimed opera singers like Deborah Voigt in “Tosca” and Natalie Dessay in “Manon.”

“It let me work with all of the big stars and just learn the business really fast,” Corona said, adding that he aimed for the Lyric’s program in large part because it allowed him to be close to his family and friends.

There was also the bonus of already being known by Lyric donors because of his previous Northwestern and COT performances.

“It’s wonderful to be able to promote hometown talent, but ... it certainly is not a factor in the selection of members,” said Ryan Opera Center Manager Dan Novak. “First and foremost, there’s no question that Paul is tremendously talented. He has a terrific voice, and I remember the audition that we had for him where he performed and we all couldn’t believe he was so young.”

Corona’s official Metropolitan Opera debuts this past season were as the physician in Claude Debussy’s “Pelléas et Mélisande” and as a manservant in Richard Strauss’ “Capriccio.” (The latter opera starring American soprano Renée Fleming was screened live in high definition to movie theaters around the world in April and will be broadcast locally on WTTW-TV Channel 11 Sunday, Sept. 11.)

“I got to sing solo lines on top of the Met Orchestra, and they’re the greatest orchestra in the world as everyone says,” Corona said about his Met debut in “Pelléas.” “It’s absolutely true when you hear them live.”

Corona would love to tackle larger operatic roles, like the title character of “The Barber of Seville,” but he knows he needs to put in his time understudying and playing smaller roles first at major opera houses. This upcoming season, Corona has four Met engagements, though three of those are as covers.

“All of us basses, we stay healthy all the time,” joked Corona about the heartiness of his low-lying vocal colleagues in the opera world. “Even when we’re sick we can still sing.”

“Some Enchanted Evening: Broadway and Operatic Favorites with Angela Mannino & Paul Corona”

Location: Metropolis Ballroom, 6 S. Vail Ave., Arlington Heights. (847) 870-8787 ext. 200 or <a href="http://MetropolisBallroom.com">metropolisballroom.com </a>

Showtime: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26; 9 p.m. concert in the Ballroom

Tickets: $55.95 dinner show (includes beer and wine); $35 ballroom concert ($55 for VIP meet and greet with champagne)

Parking: Nearby garage and street parking