This week baritone Lucia Lucas will break a glass ceiling in the United States by becoming the first trans woman to perform a principal role on the operatic stage in the U.S. Lucas will make her U.S. debut at the Tulsa Opera singing the title role of “Don Giovanni” after taking Europe by storm over the years.

Lucas has reached the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as an ensemble member as well as the Teatro Regio di Torino and Lyric Oper Dublin, performing title and principal roles in Wagner’s The Ring Cycle and numerous Verdi operas. Now she can add the U.S. stage to her growing career.

As Lucas noted in a recent interview with OperaWire, the singer took years to reach the U.S. as those listening to her auditions constantly applauded her talent but failed to hire her.

“I got good feedback and they were like Yeah, yeah, let’s look for something, and then three years later nothing happened,” She noted. But it was with Tulsa that she finally got a commitment.

Lucas, who previously performed “Don Giovanni” in the role of the Commendatore, will make her role debut in the title role and will use her life experiences to portray the iconic role.

“My experiences in life can enhance this character. Learning to present masculine through my childhood was what gave me protection as I got older. I was less and less picked on, the more I learned how to hide feminine behaviors,” she explained.

With this major debut, Lucas is likely to open doors for transgender opera singers and will likely create awareness throughout the opera community.

Recordings

While Lucas has no commercial recordings, here she is performing Ford’s monologue in “Falstaff.”