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Here's what people are saying...

 

The Barber of Seville, Don Basilio, Madison Opera

Highlights of the production include... Thomas Forde as a very funny clergyman with a love of slander.Along with Fons as Rosina, the opera's best moments come courtesy of Thomas Forde, who steals the show as the mercenary clergyman Don Basilio.

Wearing a long black gown and prancing around the stage, Forde looks like a cross between Stefon from the "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update desk and a bouncy Professor Snape. His low, wonderful bass sounds fantastic on his aria about slander being like "a gentle wind" ("La calunnia è un venticello") and his physical comedy is spot-on.

Lindsay Christians | The Capital Times

 

"The laughter was hearty and, at least where I was sitting, much of it seemed to come from young people. For example, Don Basilio (Thomas Forde) is cast as Rosina's music teacher. Forde plays the role in the manner of Stefon, the 'Saturday Night Live' city correspondent played by Bill Hader. The audience caught on immediately."

William R. Wineke, Channel3000

 

"Thomas Forde made for a hysterical Don Basilio from beginning to end."

-The Well-Tempered Ear, Jacob Stockinger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les Misérables, Drury Lane Oak Brook

"Director Rachel Rockwell was unfamiliar with Forde before he showed up — along with hundreds of others — at an open audition call for “Les Miserables.” After singing an old Civil War song, Forde was in.

'His voice is amazing,' Rockwell said. 'That low bass baritone, it’s simply gorgeous. An extraordinary instrument. Plus, at 6-foot-4, he’s quite a presence on stage.'"

- The Chicago Suntimes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweeney Todd, Judge Turpin,

Madison Opera

"Forde employed his velvety bass to fine effect in the Judge’s creepy flagellation aria"

Mark Thomas Ketterson, Opera News

 

"... the malevolent, lustful Judge Turpin, Thomas Forde  is an excellent singer." -Lindsay Christians | The Capital Times

 

 

 

 

 

The Marriage of Figaro, Figaro,Syracuse & Tacoma Opera

"...all of the principal roles were handled with skill and humour, in particular Thomas Forde as Figaro and Chad Sloan as Count Almaviva."

 -Stephen Llewellyn, Portland Opera

 

"Douglas Kinney Frost directed with a lively, frequently hilarious Thomas Forde in the title role."

-James MacKillop, Syracuse Newtimes

 

"Thomas Forde brings 20-something Figaro to life with a little slapstick and a lot of talent. His portrayal ranges from that of a child-like, gangly youth when his parentage is revealed, to a sophisticated suitor when he romances Susanna, disguised as the countess. Forde’s fluid baritone voice is consistently expressive throughout his energetic performance. He is hale and hardy on an Act I song, advising Cherubino to forego philandering and become a soldier, and his delivery is heartrending on the Act IV piece in which Figaro acknowledges that he is a betrayed husband."

 -Linda Loomis, Syracuse.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Bass-Barihunk Thomas Forde's career has been a nice mix of opera and musical theater in recent years. This Summer and Fall, he'll be featured in the dream role for a bass in a musical when he sings the creepy butler Lurch in The Addams Family: The Broadway Musical. The production opened at the New Theater Kansas City on July 16 and will run through September 20, 2015. On the opera stage he's performed everything from Rossini's The Barber of Seville to Shostakovich's The Nose, while he's been featured on the musical theater stage in both Les Miserables and Sondheim's Sweeney Todd."

 

http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2015/07/bari-scary-lighthouse-keepers-creepy.html?spref=tw

 

The Addams Family, Lurch,

New Theatre Kansas City

"Now, no visit to the Addams family home would be complete without a proper greeting from their butler Lurch (Thomas Forde). He’s creepy, he’s tall, he’s really odd, and he’s oh-so-funny. He’s a towering character that sneaks into center stage in some unexpected ways."

 

http://www.the-vignette.com/arts-entertainment/theater/kooky-spooky-ooky-fun-for-all-new-theatre/

 

 

"Thomas Forde has little comprehensible dialogue as Lurch, the zombie-like butler, but he is allowed a couple of spotlight moments in which he wins over the audience."

 

http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article28506436.html

 

 

"Thomas Forde is a scream as the nearly-mute butler, Lurch."

 

http://www.examiner.com/review/the-addams-family-is-creepy-kooky-and-spooky-good-fun

 

 

 

 

 

National/International Press

 

Tosca, Fort Worth Opera

"Thomas Forde's sinewy bass-baritone was perfect for  Angelotti." -Scott Cantrell, 

The Dallas Morning News, Opera News

 

"Judiciously building a career that has already garnered praise for the strength of his acting, the heart of Mr. Fordes artistry is the pure tonal allure of his voice.  Possessing a veritable spectrum of colors that present a great wealth of dramatic possibilities that continues to broaden as his career progresses, Mr. Fordes voice is youthfully vibrant but also plush, suggesting opportunities in a wide-ranging repertoire.  Hearing Mr. Fordes voice in Italian repertory, it is easy to imagine his voice in time bringing great eloquence to Verdis O tu, Palermo (I Vespri Siciliani) and Ella giammai mamò (Don Carlo)."

 -Joseph Newsome, Voix Des Arts

 

"Nathan Gunn and other opera stars such as Matthew Worth and Tom Forde  are even the subject of a blog, Barihunks, devoted to the sexiest baritone hunks from opera."

-The Advocate

 

"They're known for their great bods and for breathless blogs written by devoted admirers... barihunks like Matthew Worth and Tom Forde are bringing high art to the masses in a universally appealing form." - The Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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