Press Gallery

Aida

LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO

AMONASRO

"...booming baritone and urgent acting"

OPERAWIRE

"Baritone Reginald Smith Jr., who was so magnificent as the older Emile in “Champion,” made a chilling Amonasro in what is often a throwaway role."

NEW CITY STAGE

"...dark, cutting power..."

OPERA MAGAZINE

"Reginald Smith, Jr. sang with ample ballast and power as Amonasro..."

CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

Tosca

THE SANTA FE OPERA, DAYTON OPERA, AND OTHERS

SCARPIA

"Rounding out the excellent lead casting was Reginald Smith, Jr. as Scarpia. From the moment of his grand entrance, walking on chairs so that he towered over the stage, Smith’s imperious voice blustered and sneered. His rendition of the finale to Act I amid the chorus’s impassioned “Te deum” impressed by its poisonous villainy, with the blasphemy of the sentiments emphasized by Scarpia’s presence in the midst of the religious ceremony."

TEXAS CLASSICAL REVIEW, The Santa Fe Opera

"Georgia baritone Reginald Smith, Jr.’s Santa Fe Opera debut took place in one of the iconic roles of the dramatic baritone repertory. Smith made a strong impression, vocally and dramatically, as the villanous Baron Scarpia. Smith effectively delineated Scarpia’s internal conflict."

OPERA WAR HORSES, The Santa Fe Opera

Champion

LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO

OLDER EMILE GRIFFITH

"Reginald Smith Jr. disappeared into the character of the older Griffith, his deeply sonorous baritone as telling as his hesitant, shambling manner. ... Smith brought a heartbreaking authenticity and an understated dignity to a part that could easily have devolved into cheap sentimentality."

OPERA MAGAZINE WITH OPERA NEWS

"Reginald Smith, Jr. anchors the piece with his moving portrait of the demented older Griffith, his booming baritone and smooth vocal tone a highlight."

PARTERRE BOX

"Reginald Smith Jr.’s portrayal of the elderly Emile Griffith is spectacular. His performance is a poignant embodiment of a life filled with triumphs and tragedies. Smith Jr. invites the audience into the very soul of Emile, allowing us to feel the weight of his memories and the pain of his regrets. His performance is a haunting reminder of how our past continually shapes our present, even when the mind starts to falter."

ROLLING OUT

"Smith, who plays the old Griffith fighting now for his own sanity, is unspeakably moving."

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"With his big, reverberant voice, he compellingly conveys both the aging character's fragility and time-worn strength."

CHICAGO SUN TIMES

"...beautifully sung and embodied by baritone Reginald Smith Jr."

CHICAGO READER

"Reginald Smith, Jr. as older Emile shows us how a life of self-punishment slowly turned to one of inner reflection and peace suffused with a gentle dignity."

HYDE PARK HERALD

"I will say right out of the gate that Smith is the star and center of this opera. His baritone reaches the rafters and his acting is on point. I have witnessed dementia many times and most of the heartbreak is seeing how hard the person is struggling to make sense of everything. Smith gave a seamlessly beautiful performance with a tragic role that can become maudlin or mawkish. Smith's performance is imbued with all of the fear, regret, and pain."

THIRD COAST REVIEW

"Emile’s character is brilliantly portrayed by three different singers. Reginald Smith Jr., a Grammy- and Emmy-winning baritone, portrays the aging Emile with a vulnerability and pathos as he searches for forgiveness and peace."

BUZZ NEWS

"Champion succeeds on the strength of its singing actors, and the interplay between the old and young Emiles is the emotional core of the show."

AROUND THE TOWN CHICAGO

Spectacular and unspeakably moving.

Porgy and Bess

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA

PORGY

"Reginald Smith Jr.’s Porgy I found to be likeable and endearing. He plays this character with conviction and a sense of joy, as evidenced in his rendition of the playful yet sincere “I Got Plenty Of Nuttin’,” and also a sense of tenderness, as when singing the lovely “Bess, You Is My Woman Now.” Acting-wise, I also enjoyed seeing the trajectory of his character arc, going from someone who says he can’t be “soft” on any woman in the beginning, to enjoying sharing a home with Bess toward the end of Act I, to fighting and killing Bess’s former lover Crown at the end."

OPERA TODAY

"Reginald Smith Jr. (Porgy) aporta una presencia sólida, con un timbre barítono cálido, contundente y modelado con rigor..." | "a solid presence with a warm, forceful, and rigorously shaped baritone..."

MARTIN WULLICH

Falstaff

HOUSTON GRAND OPERA, THE DALLAS OPERA

FALSTAFF

"Baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. overlays Shakespeare’s fat, conceited knight with a graceful patina of buffoonery and a boom of a voice. Watch his mincing little dance when he describes his prowess with the ladies. He does walk on air... He practically smirks as he sings.

For all of Falstaff’s many foibles, and they are numerous, Smith’s fine portrayal turns him very likable. You’d be happy to share a tankard of ale with him. Just don’t let him anywhere near your coin purse. His “credo” about honor – which musically mimics Iago’s lethal curse in Otello – is a miniature aria filled with irony and boasting. He plays this beautifully. Falstaff comes naturally to him. His breezy performance anchors the entire production. Easy and comfortable, Smith’s Falstaff gives the jolly opera another broad smile."

HOUSTON PRESS

"Lusty, foolhardy and hilarious, Sir John Falstaff is the kind of character actors relish sinking their teeth into, and Reginald Smith Jr. makes a meal out of him in Houston Grand Opera’s new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s final opera, Falstaff.

Smith’s commanding baritone gives the disheveled, misguided Shakespearean knight a gravitas even Arrigo Boito’s libretto strives to deny him, but also an irrepressibility the Bard himself no doubt would have co-signed."

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

"Reginald Smith, Jr. in the title role boasts a dark-hued, walloping baritone—easily filling the music’s big moments as with Falstaff’s delusions of grandeur."

TEXAS CLASSICAL REVIEW

Miscellaneous

NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY, SACRAMENTO PHILHARMONIC,

BALTIMORE SYMPHONY, AND OTHERS

"Baritone Reginald Smith Jr.’s exemplary expression and penetrating timbre made for rich contrasts against tenor Issachah Savage’s sweet and supple lyricism."

NEW JERSEY ARTS

"The standout among the vocal soloists was baritone Reginald Smith Jr. The warmth and amplitude of his baritone was matched by the communicative impact of his singing, starting with the electric, hall-filling charge..."

THE BALTIMORE SUN

"... one of the most exciting baritone sounds to come around in years. His voice is ample and thrillingly dramatic."

OPERA NEWS

"In the illustrious world of opera, baritone Reginald Smith Jr. stands out not only for his powerful voice but for his inspiring journey that led him to the stage..."

BNN BREAKING

Castor and Patience

CINCINNATI OPERA

CASTOR

"That these figures are so vivid is also thanks to a committed cast, led by the baritone Reginald Smith Jr., an anguished Castor, and the soprano Talise Trevigne, delicate but potent as the implacable Patience."

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"The emotive power of the two leads was astounding. Reginald Smith Jr.’s Castor delivered the raw anguish of a patriarch adrift, torn in half by the simultaneity of the past, present, and future. In his arias, Castor’s façade crumbled so easily as Smith’s formidable bass-baritone quickly accelerated from frustration to sheer distress."

I CARE IF YOU LISTEN

"The cast is superb. Reginald Smith, Jr.’s rich baritone evoked Castor’s shame for his predicament and his struggle to acknowledge his fears and responsibilities."

PARTERRE BOX