Ten Questions with Susanne Mentzer

Ten Questions with...

Susanne Mentzer,
mezzo-soprano
Mrs. Patrick DeRocher in Dead Man Walking

1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:

Singing great music that someone deliberately put to the page and sharing it.

2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is: 
Staying healthy and in top form.

3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:
Hard question.  There are so many! 

4. A few of my favorite films are: 

The Best Year of Our Lives, Rear Window, Life of Pi, Legends of the Fall, Lawrence of Arabia, Godfather I and II, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Anchor Man.

5. Three things I can’t live without are: 

My family, my dog and my iPhone.

6. My number one hobby is: 

Scrabble/Games.

7. If you could perform with any singer, retired or deceased, who would it be?

Paul McCartney. 

8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?

Nursing or Music Therapy. 

9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender?

That is a hard question. I guess it would be Werther. 

10. Describe your favorite moment on stage. 

Duet with Joan Sutherland in Anna Bolena at the Royal Opera Covent Garden 1988. 

Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer)
Why is The Phantom of the Opera not an opera?
Because it is a musical and musicals are sung with sound enhancement (mics) and opera is not.  People always mention it when I mention opera.  One of my pet peeves.

See Susanne in Madison Opera's production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking April 25 and 27 at Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18!