Before Kelly Cae Hogan joined THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, she was an aspiring opera singer living and studying in New York City. Her teachers were the retired Metropolitan Opera diva, Anna Moffo, and Cuban soprano Carolina Segrera who herself had sung under Toscannini at La Scala. When she was discovered by PHANTOM she had recently completed a Masters in music at New York University and won several operatic vocal competitions including Liederkranz, the American Opera Auditions, and the MacAllister Awards. In the fall of 1994, after two years of covering Carlotta with the Raoul company, Kelly auditioned for Hal Prince at the Majestic Theater in New York. She received THE phone call the next morning from the casting agent offering her the role of Carlotta on the Music Box tour!
After a year as Carlotta, Kelly took her "diva" skills from the musical theater world to the operatic stage. She was a leading soprano with New York City Opera for two seasons making her debut in the title role of THE MERRY WIDOW. Since that debut she has done several portrayals of THE WIDOW with various companies including Metro Lyric Opera of New Jersey, and The Virginia Opera in Norfolk and Roanoke. Her operatic roles during this time included Gilda in RIGOLETTO, LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Flotow's MARTHA, Strauss' EINE NACHT IN VENEDIG, Rosina in THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, and Musetta in LA BOHéME which she performed with smaller New York area companies. Kelly also began singing on the concert stage, performing Dvorak's TE DEUM with the Dallas Symphony, Vivaldi works with Trenton Symphony, and several opera/pops concerts with Hudson Valley Symphony and Norfolk Symphony among others. Internationally there were concert performances in Guatemala, and the earthy and exciting CARMINA BURANA with Orquesta Nacional de Costa Rica and Ballet Nacional de Chile.
As her voice grew and came into it's own dramatically, so did her opera roles. Most recently she performed her first NORMA at Metro Lyric Opera and the Countess in THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO conducted by Maestro Anton Coppola. Kelly has sung Donna Anna in DON GIOVANNI in Iowa and in Birmingham, Alabama; Violetta in LA TRAVIATA in New Jersey and Augusta, Georgia; and two of the three Heroines in THE TALES OF HOFFMANN.
Kelly made a return to musical theater in the recent Broadway Revival of THE SOUND OF MUSIC starring Rebecca Luker. Kelly sang nightly as one of the nuns and understudied that diva in her own right, Elsa Schraeder, the Baroness. She enjoyed being an original cast member of the revival, recording the new CD of the current Broadway cast, and performing on television in the TONY Awards last year. (Hi Mom and Dad!)
This past spring she debuted with Washington Opera in the U.S. premiere of the Wolf-Ferrari opera SLY starring Jose Carreras, produced in part by Placido Domingo and directed by his wife, Marta Domingo. Kelly looks forward to performing again the role of Musetta in LA BOHéME in a return visit to Augusta, Georgia, and will assay the role of Floria Tosca for the first time in Puccini's TOSCA. Other tentative upcoming engagements include additional Musettas, and two different productions of DIE FLEDERMAUS in which she sings Rosalinda.
Currently Kelly is taking the summer off to vacation with family in Iowa, Illinois and Ohio, and with friends in Cape Cod. Oh, and also learning TOSCA, Rosalinda, and Marguerite in FAUST. No REAL rest for wicked opera divas!!
