About Beverly

 

After 30 years of thrilling audiences with her extraordinary acting ability and exciting soprano vocals,  Iowa native Beverly O'Regan Thiele is focusing her passion and skills on coaching and teaching acting to opera singers and making her way into opera directing.   Known as being among the best in her field for her interpretation of contemporary opera, she was equally at home in the Classic opera, concert and recital work.  Immediately upon graduating from Northwestern with her MM, she made her professional debut as "Abigail" in THE CRUCIBLE with Des Moines Metro Opera, after which she was accepted into what today is the Ryan Opera Center with Lyric Opera of  Chicago.  Along with Lyric, her career took her to Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Germany, England,  Hungary, as well as numerous regional companies where Ms. O'Regan Thiele thrilled audiences with her un-rivaled intensity and honesty of character portrayal and her stunning vocal prowess.

As an acting coach and teacher, Ms O'Regan Thiele combines her own 30 years of professional vocal and dramatic experience with the Hagen Technique, giving work shops, master classes, teaching acting classes, and giving private acting coachings.  For the last three active seasons (2020, '21 '23) she taught acting classes with Spotlight On Opera and worked one on one with each of the singers.  She has given Master Classes as part of the Yeoria Studios Master Class Series, in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, and at the University of Washington, Seattle.  She is in demand as a private acting coach and works out of her Oradell, NJ studio, various studios in New York City, as well as online.

Ms O'Regan Thiele's operatic directing includes the children's operas with Spotlight on Opera for the 2020 and 2021  and 2023 seasons: GOLDIE B. LOCKS & THE 3 SINGING BEARS, words and story adapted by John Davies, and  PETUNIA by Keith Jameson.  Opera Scenes include  Act II CARMEN through "Votre toast", "Papageno Suicide scene through Papagena/Papageno Duet" and "Hmm Hmm Quintet" (DIE ZAUBERFRLÖTE),  "Della bella Despinetta" Sextet (COSI FAN TUTTE),  "Agony Duet" (INTO THE WOODS).  Online scenes include "Little Bat and Susannah" scene and aria (SUSANNAH), and the "Pamina Suicide Scene" (DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE), "Presentation of the Rose" duet (DER ROSENKAVALIER),  "Sull'aria" duet (LE NOZZE DI FIGARO) all directed via Zoom, which entailed staging via zoom, scene design with where and what singers have, story boards and final editing decisions for the videos.   Ms O'Regan Thiele was assistant director for Daniel Helfgott's production of NOSFERATU with Rimrock Opera, and director of Act 3 of RIGOLETTO with Resonanz Opera with Tim LeFebvre as "Rigoletto", and coached acting.  She has also directed a scene from Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE for Pat Golden's "The Art of Directing" class via Zoom for HB Studio, as well as being invited to direct the stage reading of the world premiere of FIDELIO, a one act play by Steven J. Harris, as part of the "Uta Hagen at 100" Celebration.

Her outstanding successes include "Magda Sorel" in THE CONSUL, which she sang with Washington National Opera, Berkshire Opera, as well as making the first commercial recording on the Newport Classic label.  She returned to WNO to sing "Blanche" in  Andre Previn's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.  She would go on to reprise her portrayal of "Blanche" at Lyric Opera of Chicago in a special added performance of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, as well as with Opera Grand Rapids and Opera Santa Barbara.  She  covered Renée Fleming's "Blanche" at Carnegie Hall, singing the final dress rehearsal and most rehearsals at Lyric Opera of Chicago.  Ms. O'Regan Thiele created leading soprano roles in two world premieres for Michael Nyman to rave reviews: "Woman" (three distinctive characters) in MAN AND BOY:DADA, and "Avril" in LOVE COUNTS, both with the Badisches Staatstheater, Karlsruhe, Germany. Also in Karlsruhe, she sang "Chrysothemis" in ELEKTRA, "Giulietta" in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN and "Erste Dame" in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, a role she also sang with Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera and covered at the Met, among others.  She received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the title role of Barber's VANESSA with Utah Festival Opera, the title role of Floyd's SUSANNAH with Des Moines Metro Opera, "Miss Jessel" in TURN OF THE SCREW with the Broomhill Festival in England, the title role in the East Coast premiere of Tobias Picker's THÉRÈSE RAQUIN with Dicapo Opera, and "Arkadina" in the professional premiere of Pasatieri's  THE SEAGULL also  with Dicapo Opera and the Armel Festival in Szeged, Hungary.  Her moving rendition of "Mrs. Williamson" in David Lang's DIFFICULTY OF CROSSING THE FIELD with Beth Morrison Projects was also recorded with Cantaloupe Records, and was named as a "highlight" by William Bolcom in his A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE with Michigan Opera Theatre.  Ms O'Regan Thiele also covered Sheri Greenawald's "Marie Antoinette" in Corgliano's GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES, singing a sitzprobe, as well as Karita Mattila's "Kát'a" in KÁT'A KABANOVÁ doing all reharsals, and Patricia Racette's JENŮFA with WNO.

Other highly acclaimed roles include "Donna Elvira" with Glimmerglass Opera, Mississippi Opera and Toledo Opera, "Fiordiligi" with Lake George Opera, Opera Omaha and Fort Worth Opera, "Musetta" with New York City Opera and Orlando Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago Student Mantinee.  Ms. O'Regan Thiele was seen regularly with the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Washington National Opera in operas as DIE WALKÜRE, ELEKTRA, DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, WAR AND PEACE, MOSES UND AARON and LADY MCBETH OF MTSENSK.  She has also ventured into the Musical Theatre genre as "Rosabella" in Frank Loesser's MOST HAPPY FELLA with Utah Opera Festival.  

Concert work includes Mozart "Requiem" at Avery Fisher Hall, "Dritte Dame" in ELEKTRA with Chicago Symphony under Daniel Barenboim at Symphony Center and Carnegie Hall, Mozart "C-Minor Mass" and Bristow's "Daniel", Beethoven "9th Symphony", Verdi "Requiem," Händel's "Messiah", Patrick Cassidy's "Famine Remembrance Suite" in Chicago's Symphony Space and "Children of Lir" in the Chicago Auditorium, Rossini "Stabat Mater" and Haydn "Lord Nelson Mass" and Honnegger's "Le Danse des Morts", and "An Evening with Bill Bolcom", singing with Joan Morris, accompanied by Bill Bolcom, in Detroit. She has guested frequently with Old St. Patrick's "Síamsa na nGael" in Chicago's Symphony Center, singing both Irish Traditional and classically, and with the Musicians of Ma'alwyck in Upstate New York.  

Professional recordings include "Magda Sorel" in Menotti's THE CONSUL, performed with Berkshire Opera and recorded on Newport Classics, conducted by Joel Revzen; "Mrs. Williamson" in David Lang's DIFFICULTY WTH CROSSING A FIELD performed with Beth Morris Projects and recorded on Cantaloupe Records, conducted by Douglas Kinney Frost; one of "Seven Deadly Sins" in Hugo Weissgall's SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR performed with Lyric Opera of Chicago, recorded on the New World Records label, conducted by Lee Schaenen.  She released her self-titled Inspirational CD, LIVE IN THE LIGHT, produced and accompanied by the late Irish Trad guitar virtuoso Dennis Cahill, Bill Fraher on piano and other Irish Trad and Classical musicians.  She is heard on numerous recordings with Hal Leonard, including Boosey and Hawkes "Britten Folk Songs", "The Songs of Rogers and Hammerstein", Folksong Arrangements, and many others.

Awards include winner of the Iowa Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Finalist in the Midwest Regionals and Central Regionals, recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation,  Opernwelt Award winner of the Belvedere Competition in Vienna, winner of the Chicago Women's Club Vocal Competition and Union League Competition and a two time recipient of the Sullivan Awards.

Ms O'Regan Thiele has an active Vocal Arts Studio in which she teaches acting to opera singers using Uta Hagen exercises; she also teaches voice and accent modification.  She gives acting workshops in New York City and in Chicago which are known for being fun and extremely informative, giving singers new and exciting ways of character and self discovery.  During the pandemic, coachings and lessons were done online, and continue to be online if the artist wishes.