New Zealand baritone Hadleigh Adams is taking over the key role of Stanley Kowalski in Florida Grand Opera’s upcoming performance of A Streetcar Named Desire. Adams replaces baritone Steven LaBrie, who was invited to tour with opera quartet Il Divo following the death of member Carlos Marin due to complications from COVID-19. 

“These decisions are not easy to make, and ultimately, everyone has to do what is right for them,” says FGO General Director and CEO Susan T. Danis. “We wish Steven the very best. The silver lining is that we get to see Hadleigh months earlier than we anticipated.” 

Adams is scheduled to appear as Hawkins Fuller in April’s production of Fellow Travelers. He is making his debut in the role of Stanley with a little more than a week’s notice, a practice in opera known as an Einspringer or “jump-in.” 

“Hadleigh is an excellent musician, a quick study, and an impeccable artist,” Danis said. “We know he will be a formidable Stanley and can’t wait to see what he does with the role.”

Hadleigh’s critically acclaimed work includes included Lou Harrison’s Young Caesar (Nicomedes), Annie Gosfield’s War of the Worlds (General Lansing), and Bernstein’s Mass (baritone soloist) with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers (Hawkins Fuller) at Minnesota Opera, and the London Philharmonia Orchestra in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex (Creon/Tiresias).

For more information, please see www.fgo.org.

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