Reviews
Mary - The Flying Dutchman
and Vanessa Schukis’ mezzo projected imposing strength. --Salt Lake Tribune Utah (July 2013)
Yente - Fiddler on the Roof
UFOMT veteran Vanessa Schukis’ portrayal of the matchmaker also dominates the stage... --Deseret News - Utah (July 2013)
Rose - Lumberjacks in Love - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa J. Schukis bounds onto the stage as Rose in the second act and almost steals the show. --Stoneham Sun (September 2012)
Rose - Lumberjacks in Love - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa Schukis isn’t your average 1870’s shy, retiring, lonely lady looking for male companionship. She’s a tall, arm-wrestling, rootin-tootin‘ lady in a bustled dress, who’s really a dime-novel romantic novelist, gathering research for her next book about lumberjacks. --New England Theatre Mirror (September 2012)
Hattie - Kiss Me Kate - Utah Festival Opera
The show’s clever mirrored circumstances give birth to some of Porter’s best known songs, including "Another Op’nin’, Another Show," belted with Broadway gusto by Vanessa Schukis as Hattie. --Salt Lake Tribune (July 2012)
Mrs. Higgins - My Fair Lady - Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa Schukis impressed as Henry’s mother, Mrs. Higgins. She only needed to raise an eyebrow to get a laugh. --Salt Lake Tribune (July 2012)
Weill-esque
Vanessa Schukis has a voice, and she knows how to use it! On Thursday Jan. 12, as part of the John Kleshinski Concert Series at the Community Music Center of Boston, with the estimable Scott Nicholas on piano, with additional help from Noralee Walker on violin, Schukis presented a program entitled “Weill-esque,” an hour-long song recital which allowed her display the wide range of her considerable talent. The thoughtfully chosen program expressed varying aspects of love, from the raunchy to the sublime, earthy and physical to wistful and profound.
Ms. Schukis entered the concert space from the back of the hall, walking through the audience as she opened with Kurt Weill’s “Alabama Song”. This created a connection with the audience and made excellent use of the intimacy of the space. The next several numbers, “Stranger Here Myself” by Weill, and “Apathetic Man” by Goldrich & Hesler, and “I Never Do Anything Twice” by Sondheim allowed the lower range of her voice to express whiskey and smoke (the audience seemed only a drink away from being in a cabaret), as well as her humorous acting ability. In Kurt Weill’s “Nanna’s Lied,” a song very reminiscent of a Brahms garden gone to seed, her voice took on a more operatic tone, and while she scaled the performance to the space, you sensed the volume and power of which her voice is capable. This quality was also present in “Spiel auf deiner Geige,” when Ms. Walker’s gypsy violin accompanied the Richard Stolz song. If it were within her vocal range, she’d sing a heck of a “Vissi d’Arte.”
After letting the powerful side of her voice out, Ms. Schukis followed with a clean, wistful interpretation of “Falling in Love Again” by Frederick Hollander. For William Bolcom’s “Blue,” Ms. Schukis sat in a chair by the piano, echoing the words of stillness. This song had tricky chromatic lines, with some angular harmonic accompaniment, almost Schoenbergian. The final two songs, “Je ne t’aime pas” by Weill, and the classic “La Vie En Rose” by Louiguy cranked the emotional volume beyond 11. Seated at a small table on stage, clutching a wine bottle, denying that she loves the man who has broken her heart, this was a full-on operatic scene, which brought tears to the eyes. The final song was delivered with resignation and regret, offering a magnificent cycle of emotional range and musical intrigue which earned an instantaneous standing ovation.
Scott Nicholas is one of Boston’s most in-demand accompanists, and with good reason. A solid supporter, with the ability to make the piano sound like a harmonica as easily as a concert grand, he did an outstanding job. Ms. Walker & Mr. Nicholas also played a delightfully nostalgic “Waltzing in the Clouds” by Stolz as an interlude.
Elisa Birdseye, executive director of the Boston Chamber Ensemble, is an active freelance violist and principal violist of the New Bedford Symphony. Additionally, she has worked as the general manager of the New England Philharmonic and Boston Musica Viva. --The Boston Intelligencer - Elisa Birdseye (January 13, 2012)
Madame Bang Duk Omi - Sunfish - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa J. Schukis, a diva more powerful when subtle rather than unleashed, memorably trod the Stoneham boards as GYPSY’s Mazeppa, four seasons ago --- back then, I scribbled that Ms. Schukis would make an equally memorable Mama Rose. That role is still waiting --- and so am I (arms, folded; foot, tapping). --New England Theatre Mirror (February 2011)
Madame Bang Duk Omi - Sunfish - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa J. Schukis was scene-stealingly entertaining as Madame Bang Duk Omi, a self-centered villainess who leads on blind men with her wiles — most notably in a catchy solo entitled “Who’s As Lucky As Me?” --Boston Bay Windows (February 2011)
Katisha - Mikado - Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa Schukis demonstrated the widest range in the repertory casting. Her mother-of-the-year image as the understanding Mama Lucia in the previous night's "Cavalleria Rusticana" transformed into the nightmare date-of-the-century as Katisha in this show. Adorned with bright red six-inch fingernails, wild make-up and a head-piece that could appear in a Las Vegas show, she struck fear in the hearts of Nanki-Poo, her original intended, and Ko-Ko, the unfortunate she eventually married. --Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 2009)
Julia Child - Bon Appetit - Opera Providence
In Bon Appetit, Schukis, who was made up to look like a young, matronly Child, sets out to prepare a French chocolate cake, buttering pans, melting chocolate and whipping up egg whites — much of which ends up on the floor.
“Chocolate,” sings Schukis, while tossing together ingredients, “is much more complicated than any of us suspects.”
Schukis is a hoot, often capturing Child’s enthusiastic cluck. The show is funny, entertaining and to the point. --Providence Journal, Rhode Island (October 2007)
Mazeppa - Gypsy - Stoneham Theater
Especially the classically outrageous "You Gotta Get a Gimmick," with a hilarious turn by Vanessa Schukis as the trumpet-toting stripper Mazeppa - and she herds the flocks of child performers with aplomb. --Boston Globe (September 2007)
Parthy - Show Boat and Marie - The Most Happy Fella - Utah Festival Opera
Schukis, who has created a strong Parthy in "Show Boat", is very good as the emotionally charged Marie. --The Herald Journal, Utah (July 2007)
Parthy - Show Boat - Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa Schukis, as his wife Parthy, was an equal partner in the bedlam they cause when together onstage. --The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 2007)
Rosine - Signor Deluso - Intermezzo Chamber Opera Company
And Mezzo Vanessa Schukis was a delight as Rosine, the maid (here transposed into a waitress), comically rationing her stentorian tones and tempering the character's streetwise edge with a fondness for human foibles...
Schukis practically made a dish of pastries into another character. --Boston Globe Newspaper (May 15, 2007)
Marcellina-Le nozze di Figaro-Utah Festival Opera
Two characters join the plot in the second act -- the fiery-haired Marcellina and her attorney Bartolo -- that lift the somewhat pedestrian comedic moments to a higher level. Marcellina, played by Vanessa Schukis and David Barron as Bartolo, save the second act. Schukis rivals Thomson in power and pleasure, seeming to enjoy her role as meddler, determined to make Figaro either marry her or pay her to go away. --The Statesman, Utah (August 4, 2006)
Mrs. Paroo-The Music Man-Utah Festival Opera
Schukis’ Mrs. Paroo is a wonderful foil for her more serious daughter and she and Norman play well off of each other. --The Herald Journal, Utah (July 21, 2006)
Dolly Tate-Annie Get Your Gun-Utah Festival Opera
... but Vanessa Schukis makes a Dolly Tate you just love to hate. ... --Deseret News, Utah (August 3, 2005)
Fruma-Sarah - Fiddler on the Roof- Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa J. Schukis nearly steals the show from Theisen (Tevye), as she does in Utah Festival Opera’s “Wizard of OZ”, also part of the festival. She gives Fruma-Sarah the dead wife of Lazar Wolf who comes back in Tevye’s dream, the same delightful wrathfulness she gives the Wicked Witch of the West, but in a different way. --The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 17, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of OZ- Utah Festival Opera
For those looking for something lighter, The Wizard of OZ is a great pick, Again this production boasts an outstanding cast with some particular delicious characters, such as Vanessa Schukis’ wonderfully grumpy Wicked Witch of the West. --Deseret Morning News, Utah (July 15, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of Oz - Utah Festival Opera
……Vanessa J. Schukis’ Wicked Witch of the West(although more slapstick than horror) was a real treat. And it was obvious by the audience’s reaction whenever the two were on stage that they were the two favorites. --The Statesman, Utah (July 2, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of Oz - Utah Festival Opera
Highlights of the casting include Vanessa Schukis, whose powerful voice as the Wicked Witch cuts right to the bone. --The Herald Journal, Utah ( July 18, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of Oz - Utah Festival Opera
As Miss Gulch (and later the Wicked Witch of the West), Vanessa J. Schukis glides by on her bicycle, fixing the audience with a delightfully piercing stare. Her singing too was a highlight. --Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 13, 2003)
Mrs. McLean - Susannah- Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa J. Schukis fills the house with her dramatic soprano voice and intensely wicked portrayal of Mrs. McLean. --Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 18, 2001)
Suicidio - Gioconda- AIMS 2000 Graz, Austria
Gewaltige Kraft demonstriert Vanessa Schukis in der Arie “Suicidio” der “Gioconda”. --Kleine Zeitung, Graz, Austria (August 2, 2000)
Yente - Fiddler on the Roof
UFOMT veteran Vanessa Schukis’ portrayal of the matchmaker also dominates the stage... --Deseret News - Utah (July 2013)
and Vanessa Schukis’ mezzo projected imposing strength. --Salt Lake Tribune Utah (July 2013)
Yente - Fiddler on the Roof
UFOMT veteran Vanessa Schukis’ portrayal of the matchmaker also dominates the stage... --Deseret News - Utah (July 2013)
Rose - Lumberjacks in Love - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa J. Schukis bounds onto the stage as Rose in the second act and almost steals the show. --Stoneham Sun (September 2012)
Rose - Lumberjacks in Love - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa Schukis isn’t your average 1870’s shy, retiring, lonely lady looking for male companionship. She’s a tall, arm-wrestling, rootin-tootin‘ lady in a bustled dress, who’s really a dime-novel romantic novelist, gathering research for her next book about lumberjacks. --New England Theatre Mirror (September 2012)
Hattie - Kiss Me Kate - Utah Festival Opera
The show’s clever mirrored circumstances give birth to some of Porter’s best known songs, including "Another Op’nin’, Another Show," belted with Broadway gusto by Vanessa Schukis as Hattie. --Salt Lake Tribune (July 2012)
Mrs. Higgins - My Fair Lady - Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa Schukis impressed as Henry’s mother, Mrs. Higgins. She only needed to raise an eyebrow to get a laugh. --Salt Lake Tribune (July 2012)
Weill-esque
Vanessa Schukis has a voice, and she knows how to use it! On Thursday Jan. 12, as part of the John Kleshinski Concert Series at the Community Music Center of Boston, with the estimable Scott Nicholas on piano, with additional help from Noralee Walker on violin, Schukis presented a program entitled “Weill-esque,” an hour-long song recital which allowed her display the wide range of her considerable talent. The thoughtfully chosen program expressed varying aspects of love, from the raunchy to the sublime, earthy and physical to wistful and profound.
Ms. Schukis entered the concert space from the back of the hall, walking through the audience as she opened with Kurt Weill’s “Alabama Song”. This created a connection with the audience and made excellent use of the intimacy of the space. The next several numbers, “Stranger Here Myself” by Weill, and “Apathetic Man” by Goldrich & Hesler, and “I Never Do Anything Twice” by Sondheim allowed the lower range of her voice to express whiskey and smoke (the audience seemed only a drink away from being in a cabaret), as well as her humorous acting ability. In Kurt Weill’s “Nanna’s Lied,” a song very reminiscent of a Brahms garden gone to seed, her voice took on a more operatic tone, and while she scaled the performance to the space, you sensed the volume and power of which her voice is capable. This quality was also present in “Spiel auf deiner Geige,” when Ms. Walker’s gypsy violin accompanied the Richard Stolz song. If it were within her vocal range, she’d sing a heck of a “Vissi d’Arte.”
After letting the powerful side of her voice out, Ms. Schukis followed with a clean, wistful interpretation of “Falling in Love Again” by Frederick Hollander. For William Bolcom’s “Blue,” Ms. Schukis sat in a chair by the piano, echoing the words of stillness. This song had tricky chromatic lines, with some angular harmonic accompaniment, almost Schoenbergian. The final two songs, “Je ne t’aime pas” by Weill, and the classic “La Vie En Rose” by Louiguy cranked the emotional volume beyond 11. Seated at a small table on stage, clutching a wine bottle, denying that she loves the man who has broken her heart, this was a full-on operatic scene, which brought tears to the eyes. The final song was delivered with resignation and regret, offering a magnificent cycle of emotional range and musical intrigue which earned an instantaneous standing ovation.
Scott Nicholas is one of Boston’s most in-demand accompanists, and with good reason. A solid supporter, with the ability to make the piano sound like a harmonica as easily as a concert grand, he did an outstanding job. Ms. Walker & Mr. Nicholas also played a delightfully nostalgic “Waltzing in the Clouds” by Stolz as an interlude.
Elisa Birdseye, executive director of the Boston Chamber Ensemble, is an active freelance violist and principal violist of the New Bedford Symphony. Additionally, she has worked as the general manager of the New England Philharmonic and Boston Musica Viva. --The Boston Intelligencer - Elisa Birdseye (January 13, 2012)
Madame Bang Duk Omi - Sunfish - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa J. Schukis, a diva more powerful when subtle rather than unleashed, memorably trod the Stoneham boards as GYPSY’s Mazeppa, four seasons ago --- back then, I scribbled that Ms. Schukis would make an equally memorable Mama Rose. That role is still waiting --- and so am I (arms, folded; foot, tapping). --New England Theatre Mirror (February 2011)
Madame Bang Duk Omi - Sunfish - Stoneham Theatre
Vanessa J. Schukis was scene-stealingly entertaining as Madame Bang Duk Omi, a self-centered villainess who leads on blind men with her wiles — most notably in a catchy solo entitled “Who’s As Lucky As Me?” --Boston Bay Windows (February 2011)
Katisha - Mikado - Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa Schukis demonstrated the widest range in the repertory casting. Her mother-of-the-year image as the understanding Mama Lucia in the previous night's "Cavalleria Rusticana" transformed into the nightmare date-of-the-century as Katisha in this show. Adorned with bright red six-inch fingernails, wild make-up and a head-piece that could appear in a Las Vegas show, she struck fear in the hearts of Nanki-Poo, her original intended, and Ko-Ko, the unfortunate she eventually married. --Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 2009)
Julia Child - Bon Appetit - Opera Providence
In Bon Appetit, Schukis, who was made up to look like a young, matronly Child, sets out to prepare a French chocolate cake, buttering pans, melting chocolate and whipping up egg whites — much of which ends up on the floor.
“Chocolate,” sings Schukis, while tossing together ingredients, “is much more complicated than any of us suspects.”
Schukis is a hoot, often capturing Child’s enthusiastic cluck. The show is funny, entertaining and to the point. --Providence Journal, Rhode Island (October 2007)
Mazeppa - Gypsy - Stoneham Theater
Especially the classically outrageous "You Gotta Get a Gimmick," with a hilarious turn by Vanessa Schukis as the trumpet-toting stripper Mazeppa - and she herds the flocks of child performers with aplomb. --Boston Globe (September 2007)
Parthy - Show Boat and Marie - The Most Happy Fella - Utah Festival Opera
Schukis, who has created a strong Parthy in "Show Boat", is very good as the emotionally charged Marie. --The Herald Journal, Utah (July 2007)
Parthy - Show Boat - Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa Schukis, as his wife Parthy, was an equal partner in the bedlam they cause when together onstage. --The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 2007)
Rosine - Signor Deluso - Intermezzo Chamber Opera Company
And Mezzo Vanessa Schukis was a delight as Rosine, the maid (here transposed into a waitress), comically rationing her stentorian tones and tempering the character's streetwise edge with a fondness for human foibles...
Schukis practically made a dish of pastries into another character. --Boston Globe Newspaper (May 15, 2007)
Marcellina-Le nozze di Figaro-Utah Festival Opera
Two characters join the plot in the second act -- the fiery-haired Marcellina and her attorney Bartolo -- that lift the somewhat pedestrian comedic moments to a higher level. Marcellina, played by Vanessa Schukis and David Barron as Bartolo, save the second act. Schukis rivals Thomson in power and pleasure, seeming to enjoy her role as meddler, determined to make Figaro either marry her or pay her to go away. --The Statesman, Utah (August 4, 2006)
Mrs. Paroo-The Music Man-Utah Festival Opera
Schukis’ Mrs. Paroo is a wonderful foil for her more serious daughter and she and Norman play well off of each other. --The Herald Journal, Utah (July 21, 2006)
Dolly Tate-Annie Get Your Gun-Utah Festival Opera
... but Vanessa Schukis makes a Dolly Tate you just love to hate. ... --Deseret News, Utah (August 3, 2005)
Fruma-Sarah - Fiddler on the Roof- Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa J. Schukis nearly steals the show from Theisen (Tevye), as she does in Utah Festival Opera’s “Wizard of OZ”, also part of the festival. She gives Fruma-Sarah the dead wife of Lazar Wolf who comes back in Tevye’s dream, the same delightful wrathfulness she gives the Wicked Witch of the West, but in a different way. --The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 17, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of OZ- Utah Festival Opera
For those looking for something lighter, The Wizard of OZ is a great pick, Again this production boasts an outstanding cast with some particular delicious characters, such as Vanessa Schukis’ wonderfully grumpy Wicked Witch of the West. --Deseret Morning News, Utah (July 15, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of Oz - Utah Festival Opera
……Vanessa J. Schukis’ Wicked Witch of the West(although more slapstick than horror) was a real treat. And it was obvious by the audience’s reaction whenever the two were on stage that they were the two favorites. --The Statesman, Utah (July 2, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of Oz - Utah Festival Opera
Highlights of the casting include Vanessa Schukis, whose powerful voice as the Wicked Witch cuts right to the bone. --The Herald Journal, Utah ( July 18, 2003)
Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of Oz - Utah Festival Opera
As Miss Gulch (and later the Wicked Witch of the West), Vanessa J. Schukis glides by on her bicycle, fixing the audience with a delightfully piercing stare. Her singing too was a highlight. --Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 13, 2003)
Mrs. McLean - Susannah- Utah Festival Opera
Vanessa J. Schukis fills the house with her dramatic soprano voice and intensely wicked portrayal of Mrs. McLean. --Salt Lake Tribune, Utah (July 18, 2001)
Suicidio - Gioconda- AIMS 2000 Graz, Austria
Gewaltige Kraft demonstriert Vanessa Schukis in der Arie “Suicidio” der “Gioconda”. --Kleine Zeitung, Graz, Austria (August 2, 2000)
Yente - Fiddler on the Roof
UFOMT veteran Vanessa Schukis’ portrayal of the matchmaker also dominates the stage... --Deseret News - Utah (July 2013)