International Baritone Troy Cook Comes Home to Philadelphia in Butterfly 09-30-2009 Baritone Troy Cook is in the midst of a remarkable international career. Most recently, he spent the spring in Spain performing the roles of Don Alvaro in Il viaggio a Reims and Husband in Les Mamelles de Tirésias at the Teatro Arrigo Antzokia. Philadelphia audiences will remember Troy from his appearance as Marcello in La bohème in 2006, and since then he has made his German debut in the same role with Semperoper Dresden and debuted with La Monnaie, Brussels in a gala concert of Pagliacci. To take on the upcoming role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Cook is not only returning to the familiar sight of the Academy of Music stage, but he is, in fact, coming home. This internationally acclaimed baritone makes his home here in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. We asked him what he likes best about singing with a company close to home and the answer was simple, “Sleeping in my own bed! Being on the road all the time, I have slept in some terribly uncomfortable beds. I also enjoy the fact the many of my friends will have the opportunity to come to this opera.” Troy Cook as Marcello in OCP's 2006 production of La bohème. His other domestic appearances have included the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Portland Symphony, American Ballet Theater, and many others. When we asked Troy, with all of these performances all over the world, what his most memorable moment on stage has been, it was one of his appearances at the Met that came to mind. “I was singing Schaunard in La bohème. In the last act, Schaunard and Colline have a mock duel, which in the Met production, continues outside on the rooftops. When I jumped off the balcony, I slipped and fell flat on my face! There was an audible gasp from the audience and I will never forget the look on Colline’s face. But, as they say, “the show must go on,” so I just crawled up the faux roof and tried to make it look like it was supposed to happen. Yeah, right!” After he closes this production of Madama Butterfly, Cook heads off to Europe once more to make two important debuts this winter, first as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Royal Opera Covent Garden and then with Hamburgische Staatsopera as Marcello in Bohème and Ford in Falstaff. But even when he’s away, he values the time he can spend back in Philadelphia area. Saying that even though he loves all different ethnic foods, “the thing I love most is a good ol’ all-American cheeseburger, going to the movies, and putzing around in my gardens at home.” Click here to learn more about his costars Ermonela Jaho and Roger Honeywell. Click here to learn more Madama Butterfly.
Baritone Troy Cook is in the midst of a remarkable international career. Most recently, he spent the spring in Spain performing the roles of Don Alvaro in Il viaggio a Reims and Husband in Les Mamelles de Tirésias at the Teatro Arrigo Antzokia. Philadelphia audiences will remember Troy from his appearance as Marcello in La bohème in 2006, and since then he has made his German debut in the same role with Semperoper Dresden and debuted with La Monnaie, Brussels in a gala concert of Pagliacci.
To take on the upcoming role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Cook is not only returning to the familiar sight of the Academy of Music stage, but he is, in fact, coming home. This internationally acclaimed baritone makes his home here in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. We asked him what he likes best about singing with a company close to home and the answer was simple, “Sleeping in my own bed! Being on the road all the time, I have slept in some terribly uncomfortable beds. I also enjoy the fact the many of my friends will have the opportunity to come to this opera.”
Troy Cook as Marcello in OCP's 2006 production of La bohème.
His other domestic appearances have included the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Portland Symphony, American Ballet Theater, and many others. When we asked Troy, with all of these performances all over the world, what his most memorable moment on stage has been, it was one of his appearances at the Met that came to mind. “I was singing Schaunard in La bohème. In the last act, Schaunard and Colline have a mock duel, which in the Met production, continues outside on the rooftops. When I jumped off the balcony, I slipped and fell flat on my face! There was an audible gasp from the audience and I will never forget the look on Colline’s face. But, as they say, “the show must go on,” so I just crawled up the faux roof and tried to make it look like it was supposed to happen. Yeah, right!”
After he closes this production of Madama Butterfly, Cook heads off to Europe once more to make two important debuts this winter, first as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Royal Opera Covent Garden and then with Hamburgische Staatsopera as Marcello in Bohème and Ford in Falstaff. But even when he’s away, he values the time he can spend back in Philadelphia area. Saying that even though he loves all different ethnic foods, “the thing I love most is a good ol’ all-American cheeseburger, going to the movies, and putzing around in my gardens at home.”
Click here to learn more about his costars Ermonela Jaho and Roger Honeywell.
Click here to learn more Madama Butterfly.
