Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 11 - safronia

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 22 KENDAL MARIE WILSON booker family Lyric debut Wilson graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2024. She has recently been seen in Revolution(s) (Goodman Theater), Diana: The Musica l (Theo Ubique), Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus (Young People’s Theatre Chicago), and Milo Imagines The World (Chicago Children’s Theatre). During her undergraduate career she was also a principal actor in London Road (Shattered Globe) which took home a Jeff Award for Best Midsized Musical Production. PAUL BYSSAINTHE, JR. CONDUCTOR & ORCHESTRATOR Lyric debut The music director, organist, and conductor currently serves as Associate Music Director for the revival of Ragtime at The Lincoln Center Theater. He was previously music director and conductor for Goddess at The Public Theater and for the Broadway revival of The Wiz . Byssainthe, Jr. was associate music director for the premiere of Hercules at Paper Mill Playhouse, associate music director/conductor for the world premiere of American Prophet at Arena Stage, and conductor for the world premiere of Grace at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. For his work on American Prophet , he received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for best music direction. Currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Byssainthe, Jr. also holds a Graduate Performance Diploma from Peabody and degrees in orchestral conducting and music from Andrews University. His performance engagements have included organ appearances with The Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore Hall, Mozart’s Requiem , and solo recitals at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America. He recently joined the staff at The Riverside Church in New York City, serving as Associate Organist. TIMOTHY DOUGLAS DIRECTOR Lyric debut Douglas has served as stage director on more than 150 productions of plays, musicals, and opera. He was the Helen Hayes Award winner for Best Musical for The Color Purple (Signature Theatre). Recent productions include the world premiere of She Who Dared (Chicago Opera Theater), as well as new productions of Champion (Boston Lyric Opera) and Blue (New Orleans Opera). Representative projects include the world premiere of August Wilson’s Radio Golf (Yale Repertory Theater), the world premiere of Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down (Kennedy Center), As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard III (Folger Shakespeare Theatre), Frankenstein (Classic Stage Company), Nina Simone: Four Women (Arena Stage), In The Blood (Guthrie Theater), An Octoroon (NIDA/Sydney), Rosmersholm (National Theatret/Oslo), Disgraced (Great Theatre of China), Mules (Downstage/New Zealand), and Primary Trust, Mothers and Sons , and The Trip to Bountiful for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where he is an associate artist and also serves on the board of trustees. He has served on the faculties of University of Southern California, Emerson College, American Conservatory Theater, UNC School of the Arts, Birmingham School of Acting (UK), and Toi Whakaari (New Zealand Drama School). In 2027, Douglas will stage the world premiere of Maria Thompson Corley and Diane Soloman-Glover’s John Lewis: Good Trouble for Cincinnati Opera. JESSICA JAHN COSTUME DESIGNER Previously at Lyric: Four productions since 2014/15, most recently Blue and Fidelio (both 2024/25). Jahn has collaborated with directors Francesca Zambello, Diane Paulus, Tina Landau, Tommy Kail, Jessica Blank, and Kenny Leon, as well as writers Nora Ephron, Eisa Davis, Charles Busch, Charles Fuller, Tracy K. Smith, and Mark Campbell. At Lyric, she designed costumes for Norma (2016/17) and Anna Bolena (2014/15). Other highlights include Hamlet (The Public Theatre), Coal Country (The Public Theater), Blue (The Glimmerglass Festival), Orfeo ed Eurydice (San Francisco Opera), Monodramas (New York City Opera), The Crucible (The Glimmerglass Festival), Parsifal (San Francisco Opera), Dead Man Walking (Washington National Opera), and Loving v. VA (Virginia Opera). She has taught at NYU, Rutgers University, and Brandeis University’s Theater Arts Departments, and is an Assistant Professor in the Theater and Dance Program at Montclair State University. She is currently working toward her Master’s Degree in Cultural Anthropology at Hunter College. Costume Designers are supported by the Richard P. and Susan Kiphart Costume Designer endowment. JASON LYNCH LIGHTING DESIGNER Lyric debut Recent credits for the award-winning designer include The Crucible , directed by Francesca Zambello, and Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha , both presented by Washington National Opera. Additional opera credits include the world premiere productions of She Who Dared at Chicago Opera Theater and This Little Light of Mine at The Santa Fe Opera. Off-Broadway highlights include Audible Theatre/Minetta Lane Theatre’s You Are Here: An Evening with Solea Pfeiffer . Lynch’s work has appeared at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Court Theatre, Goodman Theater, Northlight Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, TimeLine Theatre Company, and others. Recent regional theater credits include work with Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, Geva Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Great Lakes