Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 2 - Gala

13 | Lyric Opera of Chicago BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL Two-time Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell has enjoyed a career that spans Broadway, television, film, and concert appearances with the country’s finest conductors and orchestras. He received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards for his star turn in Kiss Me, Kate . He also gave Tony-nominated performances in Man of La Mancha , August Wilson’s King Hedley II , and Ragtime . Other notable Broadway shows include Kiss of the Spider Woman , Jelly’s Last Jam , Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Shuffle Along . In 2016, he was awarded his second Tony Award, the prestigious Isabelle Stevenson Tony for his charitable work with The Actors Fund. That same year, Stokes was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. He has performed at venues spanning jazz, opera, pop, country, and musical theater worlds, working with John Williams, Marvin Hamlisch, Gustavo Dudamel, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Big Band, the Mormon Tabernacle choir, and the Muppets. Stokes has made multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall, and he has been invited twice to perform at the White House (both times aired on PBS’s “Great Performances”). His musical talent has extended to the present day as producer, arranger, and orchestrator on his three solo albums including Simply Broadway and his latest recording Plays With Music . Stokes has appeared on more than 20 albums. His extensive screen credits include a seven-year stint on Trapper John, MD and have continued with memorable appearances on everything from PBS’s Great Performances to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Frasier , Glee , Jumping the Broom, and his most recent recurring roles on Madam Secretary, Mr. Robot, The Path, Billions, and The Good Fight . He is on the board of Americans for the Arts and is serving his 16th term as Chairman of the Board of the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund). LAURA BENANTI Tony Award-winner and five-time Tony Award-nominee Laura Benanti is a highly celebrated stage and screen actress. She took Broadway by storm at the age of 18 as Maria in The Sound of Music and has subsequently starred in 10 more Broadway shows (musicals, straight plays, comedies, and dramas) including Into the Woods, Nine (opposite Antonio Banderas), Gypsy (for which she won a Tony Award), She Loves Me, My Fair Lady , and Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower opposite Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key. Benanti debuted her highly celebrated solo comedy show Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares at the Minetta Lane Theater Off-Broadway. Benanti created, wrote (songs co-written by Todd Almond), and starred in the show, which was recorded by Audible and is currently streaming on the platform. Benanti recently brought the show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with an encore performance at Underbelly Boulevard in London. She can be seen playing the series regular role of Cindy on the Paramount+ series, Mayor of Kingstown , starring opposite Jeremy Renner, and in the film Everything’s Going to be Great with Bryan Cranston and Allison Janney. Benanti co-starred in the film No Hard Feelings with Jennifer Lawrence and Matthew Broderick and guest stars in HBO Max’s Gilded Age , Hulu’s Life & Beth (created by and starring Amy Schumer), and Elsbeth on CBS. Benanti earned rave reviews for her portrayal of a grieving widow in Netflix’s film Worth , starring opposite Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, and Amy Ryan. She can currently be seen in the film Goodrich , opposite Michael Keaton. Other TV work includes Younger, Ziwe, Gossip Girl, Supergirl, Nashville , and Inside Amy Schumer , among many others. ROB FISHER An internationally recognized music director, conductor, and pianist, and a leading figure in American music and musical theatre, Rob Fisher has been a guest of every major orchestra in the country as conductor or pianist and has collaborated many times with the San Diego Symphony. At Lyric, he led the record-breaking production of The Sound of Music (2014/15). With the New York Philharmonic, he conducted the acclaimed concert versions of Carousel (Emmy nomination for Best Music Director) and My Fair Lady , both starring Kelli O’Hara, as well as Mr. Keillor at 70 . At Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, he led gala performances of Candide, Guys and Dolls, and The Sound of Music . Fisher was recently represented on Broadway as the score supervisor and arranger for An American in Paris (Grammy nomination) and Anything Goes (Grammy nomination). Additionally, he remains the music supervisor and arranger for Chicago: The Musical . In addition to collaborating in concert and recording with such artists as Renée Fleming, Kristin Chenoweth, Kelli O’Hara, Patti LuPone, Idina Menzel, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and David Hyde Pierce, he conducted the San Francisco Symphony in the Emmy- winning concert production of Sweeney Todd starring LuPone and George Hearn. Fisher was founding music director and conductor of the New York City Center Encores! series from its inception in 1994 until 2005. The series earned a 2000 Tony Award, and, in 1997, Fisher was given the Lucille Lortel Award. Fisher has made numerous recordings for Encores!, including the Grammy Award-winning Chicago cast album. Recently, Fisher arranged and conducted Renée Fleming’s Broadway . Artist profiles