Anthony Laciura (born September 27, 1951) is an American actor and operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

. Laciura is often noted for his abilities as a

comprimario A comprimario is a small supporting role in an opera (or a singer who sings those roles). The word is derived from the Italian "''con primario''", or "with the primary", meaning that the ''comprimario'' role (or singer) is not a principal role (or ...

, and actor. Born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, he studied voice there with Charles Paddock, also the teacher of Ticho Parly. He is also well known for playing Eddie Kessler in '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–13).

Career

As a

boy soprano A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North Americ ...

, Laciura made his operatic debut in a small role in '' Louise'', in March 1965, at the

New Orleans Opera Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in ad ...

Association, opposite the last performances in this opera of

Dorothy Kirsten Dorothy Kirsten (July 6, 1910, Montclair, New Jersey – November 18, 1992, Los Angeles, California) was an American operatic soprano. Biography Kirsten's mother was an organist and music teacher, her grandfather was a conductor, and her great-a ...

and

Norman Treigle Norman Treigle (né Adanelle Wilfred Treigle (March 6, 1927February 16, 1975) was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror. Biograp ...

. As an adult, he would give many performances with that company, and would earn music degrees from Loyola University of the South and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. On the Opening Night of the 1982–83 season, the tenor debuted with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

, where he appeared well over 800 times. That first role was the Major-domo in ''Der Rosenkavalier'', with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. In fact, that production was televised, as were Laciura's performances in ''La forza del destino'' (directed by

John Dexter John Dexter (2 August 1925 – 23 March 1990) was an English theatre, opera and film director. Theatre Born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. F ...

, 1984), ''Francesca da Rimini'' (with

Renata Scotto Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director. Recognized for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation. Since ...

and

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

, 1984), ''Tosca'' (1985), ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (opposite Ruggero Raimondi, and produced by

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (19 February 1932 – 11 August 1988) was a French opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the ...

, 1985), ''Die Fledermaus'' (1987), ''Carmen'' (in Sir Peter Hall's production, 1987), ''Turandot'' (conducted by

James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...

, 1987), ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'' (1988), ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' (with

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

, 1988), ''La fanciulla del West'' (1992), ''Falstaff'' (with Paul Plishka,

Mirella Freni Mirella Freni, OMRI (, born Mirella Fregni, 27 February 1935 – 9 February 2020) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Gl ...

, and

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

, 1992), ''I lombardi alla prima crociata'' (opposite Luciano Pavarotti, 1993), ''Billy Budd'' (1997), ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (1998), and ''Wozzeck'' (2001). Several of these productions have been published on DVD. The tenor's final appearance at the Met was in ''The Gambler'' (2008). In October 2011, he returned to the New Orleans Opera, for Emperor Altoum, in ''Turandot''. Laciura has also appeared with companies in Geneva, Amsterdam, Montreal, Mexico City, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and, especially, Santa Fe. In recent seasons, he has turned to stage direction, as well. From 2010 to 2013 he was seen in the HBO television series, '' Boardwalk Empire'', which was produced by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

. He portrayed Eddie Kessler, butler to

Nucky Thompson Enoch Malachi "Nucky" Thompson is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO TV series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Steve Buscemi. Nucky is loosely based on former Atlantic City, New Jersey political figure Enoch Lewis "Nuck ...

, played by Steve Buscemi. He has lived in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...

, with his wife, Joel, since 1986.Beckerman, Jim
"Met Opera regular from Teaneck gets a new career in HBO series "
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'', May 30, 2010. Accessed October 27, 2010.

Discography

* Donizetti: ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (Studer, Domingo, Pons, Ramey; Marin, 1990)

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

* Mozart: ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (Te Kanawa, Upshaw, Hampson, Furlanetto; Levine, 1990) Deutsche Grammophon * Puccini: ''Madama Butterfly'' (Freni, Berganza, Carreras, Pons; Sinopoli, 1988) Deutsche Grammophon * Puccini: ''Manon Lescaut'' (Freni, Pavarotti; Levine, 1993) Deutsche Grammophon * Puccini: ''Tosca'' (Freni, Domingo, Ramey; Sinopoli, 1990) Deutsche Grammophon * Verdi: ''La traviata'' (Studer, Pavarotti, Pons; Levine, 1991) Deutsche Grammophon * Verdi: ''Il trovatore'' (Millo, Domingo; Levine, 1991)

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

* Wagner: ''Parsifal'' (Norman, Domingo; Levine, 1991) Deutsche Grammophon

References

* McLellan, Joseph,
"Spoleto's Clown Prince of Opera; Tenor Anthony Laciura As a Triumphant 'Platee'"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', 26 May 1987 (accessed via subscription 28 March 2010) * Morgan, Brian, "From Loyola to the Metropolitan and City Operas," programme note for ''Loyola at the Met'', October 1, 1999.

External links

* * with Agnes Baltsa, Myra Merritt, etc.: {{DEFAULTSORT:Laciura, Anthony American operatic tenors American people of Italian descent Musicians from New Orleans Singers from New Jersey People from Teaneck, New Jersey Loyola University New Orleans alumni Tulane University alumni Living people 1951 births Singers from Louisiana Classical musicians from New Jersey