Paulo Szot

Paulo Szot ( /ˈpoʊluː ˈʃɒt/; born 1969) is a Brazilian opera baritone singer and actor. In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque in a revival of South Pacific. He won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance in the musical, becoming the first Brazilian to receive such honor.

Contents

Biography

Szot was born in São Paulo and raised in suburban Ribeirão Pires.[1] He began his musical training in piano at the age of five and later added violin and classical ballet. However, at age 21, any aspirations for a career in dance were dashed by a knee injury, causing him, with encouragement from his instructor, to focus on singing instead.[2]

A Brazilian of Polish descent, Szot studied at Jagiellonian University in Poland, the country from which his parents had emigrated following World War II.[2] He began singing professionally in 1990 with the National Song & Dance Ensemble "Śląsk". Later, he made his professional opera debut in a production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Municipal Theatre of São Paulo in 1997. Since then, he has performed with the New York City Opera, the Palm Beach Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Marseille, and Vlaamse Opera, among others, in such operas as L'elisir d'amore, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Cavalleria rusticana, I Pagliacci, Carmen, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Maria Golovin. In March 2010 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Kovalyov in Dmitri Shostakovich's The Nose . Szot returned to The Metropolitan Opera House as Escamillo sharing the stage with the French tenor Roberto Alagna in January 2011. In June 2011, Szot sang the role of Guglielmo in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Cosí fan Tutte at the Palais Garnier, and in 2012 he will return to the Metropolitan Opera as Lescaut in Jules Massenet's Manon.

About his performance in South Pacific, Ben Brantley of the New York Times said the following: "When he delivers 'Some Enchanted Evening' or 'This Nearly Was Mine,' it's not as a swoon-making blockbuster (though of course it is), but as a measured and honest consideration of love."[3] For his performance in South Pacific, Szot has won awards such as the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle, the Theatre World Award, and the Tony Award, becoming the first Brazilian actor to receive such honor. He was nominated for the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

Awards and nominations

Awards
Nominations

References

  1. ^ Jesse Green (6 April 2008). "You May See a Stranger". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/theater/06gree.html. Retrieved 2008-06-16. 
  2. ^ a b Kathy Henderson (3 March 2008). "Paulo Szot, Fresh Face Interview". Broadway.com. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dpXVRNd_Cb8J:www.broadway.com/shows/south-pacific/buzz/6629/paulo-szot/+paulo+szot+fresh+face+interview&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us. Retrieved 2011-01-16. 
  3. ^ Ben Brantley (4 April 2008). "Optimist Awash in the Tropics". The New York Times. http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/theater/reviews/04paci.html?scp=1&sq=%22Paulo+Szot%22&st=nyt. Retrieved 2008-06-16. 

External links

Nathan Lane (2001) · John Lithgow (2002) · Antonio Banderas / Harvey Fierstein (2003) · Hugh Jackman (2004) · Norbert Leo Butz (2005) · John Lloyd Young (2006) · Raúl Esparza (2007) · Paulo Szot (2008) · Brian d'Arcy James (2009) · Douglas Hodge (2010) · Norbert Leo Butz (2011)
Complete list · (1975–2000) · (2001–2025)

Nathan Lane (2001) · John Lithgow (2002) · Harvey Fierstein (2003) · Hugh Jackman (2004) · Norbert Leo Butz (2005) · John Lloyd Young (2006) · David Hyde Pierce (2007) · Paulo Szot (2008) · David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (2009) · Douglas Hodge (2010) · Norbert Leo Butz (2011)
Complete list · (1948–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025)