Curtis Bannister biography

Curtis Bannister

At Writers Theatre: Parade

Described by TimeOut Chicago Magazine as “radiating with slowly simmering energy” for his performance as Man 1 in Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World, Curtis Bannister has been praised in both the operatic and musical theatre repertoire. For the 2016/17 season, Mr. Bannister returned to the roster at Lyric Opera of Chicago for their productions of Les Troyens and Norma, performed as tenor soloist in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass for the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, and debuted with Writers Theatre as Lieutenant Barri in a reading of Stephen Sondheim's Passion. Additional season performances include his debut with Porchlight Music Theatre as Edward Moncrief in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Jean Paul in Little Fish (Kokandy Productions) and a classical recital tour in Sicily, Italy in August 2017. In April 2017, Curtis was a finalist in the 2017 Lotte Lenya Competition as well as a finalist in the Rochester Oratorio Society’s Classical Idol XI Competition. Future season engagements include operatic and musical theatre debuts in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Alaska. Select previous season highlights include Thomas in the pre-Broadway production of Amazing Grace (Broadway in Chicago), Enjolras in Les Miserables (The Utah Festival), Pirelli in Sweeney Todd (Off-Broadway), Monty in the new US world premiere version of Saturday Night Fever, understudy for Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, John in Miss Saigon (Merry-Go-Round Playhouse/Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival), Aaron the Moor in Titus Andronicus (Stillpointe Theatre) and Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime: The Musical (The Maryland Arts Festival). www.thecurtisbannister.com

[Bio as of April 2017]