About Glenn

 
 

Tenor Glenn Seven Allen is garnering critical acclaim on theatre, opera, and concert stages throughout the United States as a consummate singing actor, lauded for his dynamic interpretations of heroes and leading men, alike. Mr. Allen was hailed by Opera News as an “Edwardian matinee idol, giving by far the most detailed dramatic performance.” This season, Mr. Allen stars as Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain with New York City Opera, Dan Goodman in Next to Normal with Syracuse Stage, performs as a soloist with Charlottesville Symphony in their Bicentennial Celebration of the Arts and The Americans concerts, performs as a soloist in the The New Crew concert with the American Lyric Theatre, sings the tenor solo in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Glacier Symphony, the Inquisitor in Candide at Carnegie Hall, performs excerpts from La boheme with Reclamation Opera, sings as a tenor soloist at a New York City Opera Fundraiser and a National Yiddish Theatre benefit night, performs Il Padre in Piramo e Tisbe with The Little Opera Theater of New York and is featured in a Mediacom commercial. Last season, due to the wild popularity of its last run, he reprised his role as Jerome in the Drama Desk-nominated Di Goldene Kale Off-Broadway at the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene, which he will return to this season as Oppenheimer in Amerike The Golden Land. He also played the role of Pontius Pilate in Casa Mañana’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, Lt. Cable in South Pacific with Annapolis Opera, Will in Middlemarch in Spring with Ash Lawn Opera, and performed in New York City Opera’s production of Candide and as The Faun in La campana sommersa, for which The New York Times hailed: “Standouts among the large cast include the tenor Glenn Seven Allen as bare-chested, greenish-colored Faun, complete with furry legs and cloven hooves.”

Feature 2

Recent season’s engagements include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at the Featherstone Arts Center on Martha’s Vineyard, Jerry in Steven Burke’s new opera The Juggler, based on Joseph Caldwell’s play of the same title at The Park Avenue Armory; the leading role of Charles in the American Symphony’s world première and cast recording of the English language version of The Long Christmas Dinner at Alice Tully Hall; the Florida première of Libby Larsen’s Barnum’s Bird with Gloria Musicae; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Soo Theatre Project; and Camille in The Merry Widow at The Northern Lights Music Festival. A favorite of the Victor Herbert Foundation, Mr. Allen has sung in concert numerous times, including: a performance of Naughty Marietta for the Victor Herbert Renaissance Project, The Serenade in concert, and was a tenor soloist in a concert honoring the music of Victor Herbert. Other recent concert engagements include a performance of Glen Roven’s Songs that Make Grown Men Cry with NY New Music Collective, the 100th performance of the Mufti Gala for the York Theatre Company, and a concert performance of Akenhaten at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was also a featured soloist in a Gala Concert with Jerry Steichen and Friends in Tonkawa, OK, sang in American Lyric Theatre Alumni: Composers and Librettists in Concert at National Sawdust, performed in productions of The Notorious RBG at The Schimmel Center and A Prarie Home Companion at The Town Hall, and performed as Pirelli in Sweeney Todd in a collaboration with Glacier Symphony and Alpine Theatre project.

Gaining momentum for his work in contemporary opera, Mr. Allen regularly appears in roles such as Peter Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw with Opera Moderne at Symphony Space. The New York Times praised Mr. Allen as “a mesmerizing Quint, singing with agility and a sweetness that grew appropriately cloying or menacing.” Additionally, he appeared as Rodolpho in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge with Vertical Player Repertory supervised by the composer; the title role in Huang Ruo’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen under the baton of the composer at the American Opera Center; Ferrando in the world première of Jonathan Dawes’ Cosi Farran Tutti conducted by Ryan McAdams; Avery Dick in Gordon Beeferman’s The Enchanted Organ directed by Beth Greenburg; Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and I Have No Stories to Tell You for Gotham Chamber Opera; and has been featured in American Lyric Theater’s Opera in Eden series.

Also in demand for his creative portrayals of the leading men of operetta repertoire, Mr. Allen was featured as Camille in The Merry Widow with the Imperial Symphony, Alexius in The Chocolate Soldier with Bard SummerScape, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance with Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore with Opera Saratoga.

Known for his work on Broadway and in leading theatres throughout the country, Mr. Allen appeared as Giuseppe in the Tony-winning Broadway run of Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza. Other theatrical credits include Girl Crazy with City Center Encores; Casino Paradise with Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series; Lancelot in Camelot at the Arvada Center; Rutledge in 1776 at Goodpseed Opera House; Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar at North Carolina Theatre; the role of Assistant D.A. Kramer in the world première of Bonfire of the Vanities at The Process Studio Theatre; Carousel with the NY Philharmonic for PBS’s Great Performances; and Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., where he received The Helen Hayes nomination for Best Actor.


Recent operatic engagements include his Carnegie Hall début as George Dibdin in Heinrich Marschner’s Der Vampyr, a début as Tonio in La fille du Regiment with Connecticut Concert Opera; Roméo in Roméo et Juliette at Intermountain Opera, Il Duca in Rigoletto with Queens Symphony; Alfredo in La traviata with Long Island Opera; and Rodolfo in La bohéme, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette all at New York Lyric Opera. Mr. Allen holds a Master’s Degree in Acting from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Theater from the University of Michigan School of Music Theatre and Dance. He is currently a member of the acting faculty at the Yale School of Drama and is a sought after clinician for his “Acting in Song” master classes. Mr. Allen has studied and coached with leading instructors including: Frank Lopardo, George Shirley, Neal Goren, Francis Keeping, Fred Carama, John Mario DiCostanzo, Tyson Deaton, and Howard Watkins.