Welsh Choir of Southern California

The Musical – In Concert Performance

Original Book and Lyrics by Dylan Thomas

Additional Lyrics by Alison Pryce, Richard Davies, and Melanie Henley-Heyn

By Kind Permission of the Trustees for the Copyrights of Dylan Thomas

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The Soloists:

PATRICK BELL, Baritone, plays the role of Captain Cat. He received his Masters of Music degree from UCLA. His opera roles have included Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Don Andres in Offenbach’s La Perichole, Nardo in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, Don Inigo Gomez in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole, Sid in Britten’s Albert Herring, and Don Prudenzio in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims.

His musical theater experience includes Oklahoma!, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Pirates of Penzance, The Pajama Game, Into the Woods, and Flora the Red Menace. He was a finalist in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition, and won the Pasadena Fine Arts Club Vocal Competition.

Patrick has performed solo with the Angeles Chorale in Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, conducted by Paul Salamunovich, and as Pilate in Bach’s The Passion According to St. John, conducted by Donald Neuen. He sings with the Los Angeles Opera Chorus on the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

CHRISTINA BORGIOLI, soprano, plays the role of Polly Garter. She earned her B.A. and M.M from UCLA in Vocal Performance. Last Fall, Ms. Borgioli was one of ten Western Regional Finalists in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has been successful in UCLA Opera’s performances of Britten’s Albert Herring – Miss Wordsworth, and Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims – Corinna. In 2003, Ms. Borgioli won first prize at the American Institute of Fine Arts Vocal Competition. In November of 2002, she won third place in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition. In January of 2003 she portrayed La Princesse, Le Feu, and Le Rossignol in UCLA Opera’s production of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges. In addition, Ms. Borgioli sang the role of La Voix Celeste in the Los Angeles Opera production of La Damnation de Faust.

In July 2000 she performed the Youth and Trio solo in the Manhattan Concert Production’s performance of Mendelsohn’s Elijah at Carnegie Hall. She won first place in the Los Angeles Artists of the Future Vocal Competition 2000. In December 2000 she made her Los Angeles solo debut in the Angeles Chorale performance of Poulenc’s Gloria in Royce Hall at UCLA. Since her debut, she has sung soprano solos in works such as the Rutter Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and the Vivaldi Gloria. In May 2002, Ms. Borgioli began her career in the chorus of the Los Angeles Opera, where she will appear in six operas in the 2005-2006 season. In the Spring of 2004 she completed her Master’s Degree at UCLA, under the instruction of Nina Hinson, with a recital program of works by Mozart, Schubert, Dvorak, Poulenc, Rossini, Rorem, and Parola. Most recently, Ms. Borgioli premiered a new work by San Francisco composer Jeffrey Parola, Visage de l’Amour, a cycle of songs for soprano based on the poetry of Jacques Prevert.

A mezzo-soprano from Los Angeles, MEGAN GILLESPIE is currently a freshman at Manhattan School of Music, studying classical vocal performance with Cynthia Hoffmann. In January 2004, Megan was invited to ARTS Week Miami where she participated in a workshop with Placido Domingo and received a scholarship award from the National Foundation of Advancement in the Arts.

Megan has received awards from the Palm Springs Opera Guild of the Desert, the Intimate Opera Company, the Palisades Symphony Young Artist Awards Competition, and the Westside Junior Philharmonic Committee. She was awarded Kiwanis Music Scholarships in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Upon graduation, Megan received the Linda Anderson Award given to a senior exemplifying outstanding work and dedication to the Santa Monica High School Vocal Music Program. Megan plays the roles of Gossamer Beynon and Rosie Probert.

NICOLE PRYOR plays the role of Mae Rose-Cottage. She was raised in Ventura County, California, has been singing and performing since the age of 12. Her studies of classical voice earned her a scholarship to Pepperdine University where she graduated in December of 2000. She has received many awards for her vocal talent, including KCET’s Emerging African American Artist Award. Her favorite roles, following her college graduation, include: Sarah (two times) in Ragtime (Musical Theater West and Cabrillo Music Theater), Rusty in Footloose (Moonlight Amphitheater), and Yonah in Children of Eden (Conejo Players Theater). She is also a proud member of the Walt Disney Company, performing in many special events, and with American Vybe, who performs at Walt Disney World’s Epcot and, in 2003, on the Wayne Brady Show. She thanks her family and friends for their continued love and support.

NATHANIEL REYNOLDS, tenor, plays the role of Sinbad the Sailor. He is seeking his Masters of Music degree from UCLA. Hailing from San Luis Obispo CA, Nathaniel specializes in operatic and musical theatre performance.

ANDREW SCOTT, tenor, is proud to be making his southern California debut as the Rev. Eli Jenkins. A native of Newport Beach, Andrew was schooled in music at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He has performed throughout the Bay area as both a soloist and in ensemble. His credits include such roles as Nemerino in L’elisir D’amore, Don Jose in Carmen and Arturo in Lucia di lamermoor, Andrew has appeared with the Sarasota Opera, The Cabrillio music festival and the Bay Shore Lyric Opera. He has had the privilege to perform with such wonderful conductors as Marin Alsop, Victor DeRenzi, Steven Crawford and Randall Behr as well as for directors such as: Licia Albanase, Yefim Mazel, and Robert Darling.

Andrew is the music director of the Christ Lutheran Church of San Clamente where he conducts a choir and performs as a soloist and cantor. Mr. Scott is also an aspiring director, having just directed his first production of Madame Butterfly for the Bay Shore Lyric Opera in Santa Cruz. Andrew is a student of Shigemi Matsumoto, and is pleased for the opportunity to be performing this wonderful new piece.

STEPHEN WEINGARTNER, who narrates Under Milkwood with the words of Dylan Thomas, is currently appearing as Cassius in Julius Caesar at A Noise Within Theatre Company.

Other roles include: Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Hollywood Bowl, Victor Chandel/Poche in A Flea in Her Ear, Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, George in Of Mice and Men, Chris in All my Sons, Ariel in The Tempest, and Straker in Man and Superman at A Noise Within Theatre Company.

Roles at other theatres include Caius Ligarius in Julius Caesar at The Mark Taper Forum, Robert DuBaudricort in Saint Joan and Leontes in The Winter’s Tale at The American Conservatory Theatre, Diomedes in Troilus and Cressida, Angelo in A Comedy of Errors, and Octavius in Julius Caesar at The Berkeley Shakespeare Festival.

Film/TV roles include: Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions, Days of Our Lives and Terra directed by Dane Smith.