She Who Dared - Chicago Opera Theatre

June 3-8, 2025

Studebaker Theatre; Chicago Fine Arts Building

REVIEWS:

"Meanwhile, Byrd’s wide dramatic palette and flexible voice make the most of thankless roles as the movement’s deserter and Montgomery’s white power brokers."

- Chicago Tribune

"Mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd gives justice and individuality to multiple characters. Byrd plays the bus driver, the police officer, the judge, a classmate of Claudette, and most touchingly, Jeanetta Reese, who didn't want to be publicly defiant. The fear of reprisal from the racist vigilantes put her on a tightrope. I found that role to be quite powerful. Some people were so fearful that they considered the status quo preferable. Her character is a moment of quiet genius that brings reality back to the surface. The trauma of racism kept some people back in an existence of fear."

- Third Coast Review

"Cierra Byrd (Jeanetta Reese) [...] offered fine work."

- Hyde Park Herald

"An invented character, Jeanetta Reese, a timid housekeeper sung by mezzo Cierra Byrd, can’t find the courage to join the boycotters. “Some of us were happy in the shadows,” she sang, her voice full of anguish and regret."

- Musical America

Thank you all for honoring this production! I put my all into the characters I perform, so the shout-outs are appreciated ✨