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(to view reviews by role, please see my repertoire page) |
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"And Kevin Burdette, playing the self-infatuated poet Archibald in “Patience,” showed off his plummy, Thomas Hampson-like voice—was he doing an impersonation, perchance?—and also his phenomenal agility. He held his own in a giddy song-and-dance routine with the West End veteran Michael Ball. I’m told that Burdette is deciding between a career in opera and law. As James Joyce’s wife once said of her husband, he should stick to the singing." -New Yorker "[T]he bass-baritone Kevin Burdette put across the Father’s music with a sharply focused clarity and power. Mr. Burdette was also the star of 'Emperor,' in which he played the combined role of Death and the Loudspeaker with an idiosyncratic, darkly comic incisiveness that underpinned a magnificent vocal performance." New York Times "Best of all, however, was Kevin Burdette as Nick Shadow . . . . [U]pon his actual entrance, he commanded the proceedings. Burdette's Nick cut a fiendishly dashing figure, everything about him sharply delineated — his diction, his gestures and his penetratingly pointed bass. At times, Burdette dominated scenes merely by observing the goings-on with a wryly arched eyebrow. In Shadow's final aria after Tom has defeated him at cards, Burdette's bemused detachment turned to magnificent fury." -Opera News "The City Opera is fortunate in its two competing suitors: Michael Ball as Bunthorne and Kevin Burdette as Grosvenor. Both sing beautifully, both are comic athletes, and both are capable of evoking real people out of egregious exaggeration . . . We keep thinking, "Too much, too much," and then Mr. Ball and Mr. Burdette appear and charm the pants off us." -New York Times "Leporello was Kevin Burdette . . . his performance was a tour de force of vocal splendor and comic timing." -San Francisco Chronicle "The whole cast acted admirably, starting with American Kevin Burdette in the role of Osmin, who has one of the best bass voices heard in some time. His was the star performance, but the rest weren't far behind." -El Clarín (Argentina) "With as many rubbery moves as Jim Carrey, Kevin Burdette had a field day as Mustafá . . . his singing had an irresistable panache." -Opera News "Bass Kevin Burdette arrived as the devilish Nick Shadow, who brings news that a forgotten uncle has left Tom a fortune. Bent on claiming Tom's soul, Shadow offers to show him the ways of the world in London, and Mr. Burdette, singing with earthy power and flair, was slyly demonical." The New York Times "Kevin Burdette's droll, long-suffering Siroco nearly stole the show. His rich bass was firm and sonorous, and he dominated the stage, whether in madcap motion or simply arching an eyebrow in response to his colleagues' doings." -Opera News "Kevin Burdette, he of the marvelously plummy bass, stole the show as a hilarious Bottom, the ass for whom Tytania briefly falls." -Chicago Tribune "[Santa Fe Opera's Maharaja] was matched at every step in the latter by bass Kevin Burdette as Mr. Scattergood, with comic timing as sharp and a more robust voice." -Washington Post "Bass Kevin Burdette showed off a gorgeous Verdi voice." -New Jersey Star-Ledger "It was strikingly obvious that the best of the lot was bass Kevin Burdette as Grosvenor. His instrument is rich and polished, especially in the lower register." -New York Sun "The real star of the evening, however, was the Papageno, Kevin Burdette. He has a large powerful voice with a burnished robust sound and excellent German. His bright, vibrant personality pervaded the entire theater, especially when he entered from behind the audience. His interpretation gave us an idea of what Schikaneder’s performances must have been like." -Opera Today “The robust bass Kevin Burdette makes a sex-crazed and manic viceroy. In this breakout performance Mr. Burdette emerges as the Robin Williams of opera. When he first appears in disguise, he wears a skimpy bathing suit and matching shirt, with tall boots and a swim cap that covers his eyes. He looks like some bizarre Latino Spider-Man. When he comes on to the three cousins, his roughhousing turns aggressive. Yet this lends complexity to Mr. Burdette’s portrayal: the Viceroy is so daffy, he is a little dangerous.… [In a video sequence] Mr. Burdette, a natural camera hog, gives another brilliant comic turn.” -New York Times |
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"Unexpectedly, a singer a good half-century too young to be Pasquale walks away with the show. With a bass-baritone of some grit and carrying power, and sporting a gray fright wig and a bird's nest of a beard, Kevin Burdette proves a natural comedian, balancing broad schtick and subtle behavioral touches with the wink-wink nudge-nudge strain of self-parody that ripples through the production." -Washington Post "Kevin Burdette as the American millionaire Mr. Scattergood plays the role brilliantly for pure farce. His second act patter song, bewailing the banality of bourgeois life and its incumbent frustrating technology, is one of the highlights." -Albuquerque Journal "Bass Kevin Burdette was the most impressive stage presence. He balanced a manic gift for physical comedy with solid singing, making the role of Mustafá, the hapless Bey of Algiers, almost pathetically absurd. He gained no sympathy for his character, and stole the show in the process." -Washington Post "The mortals included a strong ensemble . . . which fielded the evening’s standout performance in Kevin Burdette’s excellent Bottom, sung with resonance and acted with skillfully calibrated comic sensibility." -Opera News "Kevin
Burdette proves an audience favorite as the Sergeant of Police.
Burdette has clearly been studying at the Groucho Marx School of
Ballet, which seems just right for the policeman's lot in this Penzance."
-Variety "Kevin Burdette, a young bass, was excellent as the King's astrologer." -Das Opernglas "Kevin Burdette gave a rich, varied vocal performance as Death and the Loudspeaker, possessing an expressive physicality worthy of a silent comedian" -Opera News "As the demonic Nick Shadow, Kevin Burdette had a commanding baritone juxtaposed against dramatic points effectively made with glances, nuances, and a restrained physical vocabulary." -Philadelphia Inquirer "Also good was Kevin Burdette, whose high, baritonal bass was free of wooliness and clearly projected . . . "The people that [walked] in darkness" had real impact while "The trumpet shall sound" rose to glory on his strong declamation in tandem with Mark Ridenour's shining trumpet solo." -Chicago Tribune "NYCO's rubber-limbed stalwart Kevin Burdette was perfectly cast as the timid Sergeant of Police." -Opera News "As the Ogre, Kevin Burdette used his sonorous bass expressively, mimicking the puppet's lumbering physicality and increasing wooziness." -Opera News "This only happens, however, after the ogre (Kevin Burdette, whose bass must still be reverberating in the hall) has intoned a song with the cunning lyric 'Here's to the man who drinks to get drunker.'" Huffington Post "Especially good [is] Kevin Burdette, as antic and elastic as Jerry Lewis yet never missing a note." -New York Magazine "Equally impressive was Kevin Burdette as her father, Mr. Scattergood; Burdette's finely judged timing and precise characterization contrasted amusingly with his deep bass." -Opera News "As Mr. Scattergood, Kevin Burdette is displaying one of the best physical comedy performances since Dick Van Dyke reigned supreme. All loose limbs, and with shameless deadpan timing, Mr. Burdette is such an excellent comic actor, you almost forget how beautifully he is singing, in a robust, immensely satisfying baritone." -Opera Today "Kevin Burdette proved to be the man of the hour, revealing a bass voice of good quality combined with impeccable interpretation to give life to Osmin, a role that makes a lot of demand on the low register. The North American bass delivered his two arias with excellent vocal resources and stylistic precision." -Tiempo de Música "Kevin Burdette stood out as a creaky yet intellectually vigorous Don Alfonso, delivering lines with the wit and wide range of timbre one should expect from this worldly-wise but not yet world-weary character. " -American Record Guide "The king's astrologer, Siroco (a particularly lively, droll Kevin Burdette), gives the operetta its title as he manipulates the plot" -Variety "Kevin Burdette, endowed with a beautiful, round bass voice, plays a lively Osmin." -Le Soleil "Kevin Burdette's Mustafa provided the house with endless laughter." -Seattle Post-Intelligencer "Kevin Burdette exudes power as menacing Minos." -Financial Times "The bass-baritone Kevin Burdette was excellent as Osmin." -Ambito Financiero (Buenos Aires) "New York City Opera's jokey and brightly colored version of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Patience' has the distinct virtues of Michael Ball and Kevin Burdette in key roles." -New York Times |
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"The most remarkable puppet was the boozing Ogre, charismatically rendered by the bass Kevin Burdette. That monster first appeared through his individual gnarly body parts, which swirled around the stage before assembling into a suitably grotesque creation." New York Times "If there is such a thing as comedic gravity, bass Kevin Burdette has it. His Dr. Bartolo was not the fat, pompous snob and buffoon that one often sees in the role. Instead, he was a rail-thin, loose-jointed fop with almost cartoon-like villainy and wildly animated comedic gestures. Frankly, Burdette possesses a theatrical ability rarely found on the opera stage. When coupled with his incredibly solid, rich bass, it sets him apart as a performer with an exciting future." -Knoxville Metro Pulse "Likewise spectacular was Kevin Burdette in the role of Nick Shadow, i.e., Old Nick, the Devil, whose ruin of Tom is easy work. Seldom has the Devil come across with such suavity and charisma, and with such nice vocal heft". -Princeton Packet "Burdette, singing and acting terrifically as Death ... [was] joined by a solid cast." Boston Herald "The role of Osmin was portrayed in a novel way - not large and overbearing, but wiry and insidious - by the bass-baritone Kevin Burdette, whose musicality and solid, colorful timbre made it possible to be both funny and moving, but whose greatest merit was centered in the gravity and intonation of his voice." -La Nación (Argentina) "Bass Kevin Burdette brought a voice of imperial steel to the Emperor Claudius" -Montreal Gazette "The cast is anchored by an impressively deft performance from Kevin Burdette as Death and the Loudspeaker." Boston Globe "Bass Kevin Burdette was sonorous and unyielding as the Priest — until the orgy, when Guarino equated his flagellation with the Villagers’ excesses." -Opera News "Kevin Burdette gave a nimble performance, playing Don Alfonso as a kind of sleazy emeritus womanizer, as if Giovanni had returned from hell to open a consulting business." Boston Globe "Kevin Burdette's resounding bass brought emotional depth to the Priest's soul-searching." -Musical America "Kevin Burdette ... proved to be as fine a singer as he is a comedian." - Buenos Aires Herald "The
singers were well chosen for strong voices and excellent English
diction. Leading the cast was New York bass Kevin Burdette as Death.
This guy really knows how to slither and prance and jump all over
the stage; yet he was most poignant when, at the end, he lies down.
His ringing voice is both vigorous and sonorous. At times he looked
devilishly like John Waters — which reinforced the iconoclastic
finger he (figuratively) kept giving us." -The Boston Phoenix
"Gilbert and Sullivan's tart sendup of Victorian aesthetes gets psychedelic treatment . . . Michael Ball and Kevin Burdette are worth the trip." -New York Times "As the vain Grosvenor, company favorite Kevin Burdette effectively countered with his slinky stage presence and whiplash bass - which is essential, since the milkmaid Patience is forced to choose between them. The two danced winningly in the patter number 'When I go out the door,' in which Grosvenor resolves to lose his fancy airs." -New York Newsday "Kevin Burdette's Sergeant of Police is another clear favorite, and the numbers with his cowardly cohorts - smoothly choreographed by Lynne Hockney - are highlights." -Backstage " . . . the singer with the greatest spark is Kevin Burdette in the relatively minor role of Masetto." -New York Daily News "Kevin Burdette’s Popolani (with the mullet, the ’stache, the cheap-o white sneakers) somehow stole every scene he was in with his goofy William Macy loser persona and explosive Jim Carrey physicality." -Metroland Newsweekly "There's so much going on -- with plenty of other characters sent in by Central Casting -- that it's no surprise an Elvis impersonator officiates at a wedding. He's one of several leather-clad guises taken on by the excellent bass Kevin Burdette." -Albany Times Union "Kevin Burdette, as Mustafà, turned in a highly physical portrayal full of inventive energy and resonant singing." -Seattle Times "His [Burdette's] comic moves were amazingly flexible and very funny, and his singing suited his growing importance very well." -Ithaca Journal "Arthur Woodley and Kevin Burdette were both impressive bassos, the scene between these assassins and Hvorostovsky the best by far in the entire evening." -ConcertoNet "The conspirators were sung with unusual distinction by basses Arthur Woodley and Kevin Burdette." -Associated Press "The words came tripping gaily from [among others] Kevin Burdette, whose Grosvenor was richly inflected and handsomely sung." -Opera Magazine (England) |
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"Kevin Burdette brought high spirits and a booming bass to the role of Masetto." -New Yorker "Michael Ball and Kevin Burdette are the elegant, musically apt, and hilarious center of Tazewell Thompson’s witty staging of this Gilbert and Sullivan classic." -Village Voice "Kevin Burdette portrayed Bottom with an agile bass and good-hearted pomposity." -Chicago Sun Times "Kevin Burdette, as the Chief of Police, seems to be part charmed snake. Not only does he create a singular and energetic presence, he moves with comic, undulating grace." -NYTheatre.com "The cast . . . was uniformly strong, especially the manic and intense Mr. Burdette." -Wall Street Journal "Kevin Burdette was a stand out, with his smooth bass singing voice, charismatic, charming, and droll stage presence, and very funny impressions of both Dubya and John Kerry. He really cracked up the crowd during the skit “How to Fixate Medicare.” -theater2K "[As] Bunthorne and Grosvenor . . . Jeffrey Lentz and Kevin Burdette were as nifty on their feet as they were adept in their singing." -New York Times "A pleasant
surprise was Kevin Burdette's Osmin, because of his vocal quality."
-Mundoclasico "The second half featured a brilliant song and dance routine by Lentz and Burdette, who are surely two of the finest singing actors ever paired on the Glimmerglass stage. Their comic timing throughout the show was marvelous, too, and Burdette delivered his "Fable of the Magnet and the Churn" with style." -Schenectady Daily Gazette "Kevin Burdette briefly contributed a warm bass as a notary and played synthesizer, slide whistle and Jew's harp at the edge of the Dock Street Theatre stage, adding to the vaudeville atmosphere." -Opera News "The Gilbert and Sullivan operetta reaches its high point when Lentz and Burdette pull out the stops on the narcissistic characters . . . [they] could not be in finer form" -Syracuse Post Standard "The bass Kevin Burdette was a sarcastic and calculating Scattergood." New York Times "Another poet, Archibald, eventually arrives on the scene. He's played by bass Kevin Burdette, who gives the best singing of the night . . . And the best number of the night comes late in Act II when the two poets race through a dancing vocal duet." -Albany Times Union "In their characterizations of the poet Bunthorne and his arch-rival Grosvenor, tenor Jeffrey Lentz and bass Kevin Burdette gave wonderfully true-to-form performances, with skilled voices that made their singing the difficult numbers seem effortless. A highlight of the show in both musical and dramatic terms was their Act II dialogue and duet ("When I Go Out of Door"), that also featured the best dance number of the piece." -Metroland Newsweekly "The richness of bass Kevin Burdette's Claudius lent a paternal austerity to the show without allowing his performance to become wholesome. Burdette brought a nice dose of sleaze in his role as Caesar, lending believability to the rejection of his numerous advances and proving that it's not always good to be the king." -McGill Daily |
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"In his Opera Grand Rapids debut, Kevin Burdette, a long, lanky bass, made a quick-thinking Figaro, humorously working his way out of fixes, but delivering serious singing in such arias as 'Se vuol ballare'." -Grand Rapids Press "Kevin Burdette, finally, plays Claudius with ease and not without majesty." -Le Soleil "Leading the young cast [was] the Siroco of Kevin Burdette, looking like a handsome version of Boris Karloff's Mummy, manically darting about the stage." -American Record Guide "All this found its fullest form (and force) in a galvanic central performance by Kevin Burdette as Death (combined in this version with the associated role of "The Loudspeaker"). Burdette is blessed with both a commanding bass and hilarious comic chops, and in this dazzlingly manic tour de force, he seemed at times to all but personify the opera." Thomas Garvey, The Hub Review "Kevin Burdette applied his solemn bass and rubber-legged dance steps to the role of Siroco, the king's astrologer." New York Newsday "Even if you’re of the opinion that sitting through an entire G&S show—no matter how well done—is tiresome, the performances delivered by Ball and co-star Kevin Burdette as Reginald Bunthorne/Archibald Grosvenor could make a believer out of you." -NEXT Magazine "'L'ile
de Merlin' also includes texts that would have been set to the music
of popular songs of the day, for satiric effect. Spoleto had Kevin
Burdette (who sang the small role of the Notary and looked blissfully
demented) accompanying those moments with sappy hymn-like tunes
on an electric keyboard." -Wall Street Journal "Cutouts of Alice in Wonderland and the March Hare have excellent box seats in which to view a Sergeant of Police who seems to have been transferred to the force from the Liza Minelli Division of the Ministry of Silly Walks . . . . are both terrific fun, as is Kevin Burdette's bursts of giddy strutting as the otherwise cowardly Sergeant of Police." -Broadwayworld.com "Kevin Burdette really captivated in the role of the alchemist-factotum Popolani. Costumed as a lowlife whose fashion clock was stopped in 1973, his alternately manic-vegetative performance possessed, or perhaps was possessed by, the spirit of true anarchy." -The Post Standard "Kevin
Burdette (Minos) triumphed over the spastic, shell-shocked persona
devised for him with his dark, sturdy voice and customary dignity"
-Opera News " Like a dessert, let’s save the surprise for last. Kevin Burdette, the lithe and supple bass from Tennessee. His timing is sharp as a rifle crack. With legs as long as Hugh Jackman’s, he bounces around like the tin man after Dorothy oiled his joints. His commanding bass voice just takes over the stage. My pacemaker shorted-out when I saw the ticket price of $120, but by Jupiter, by George, by Jingo, Burdette makes it worth every penny." -ArtsPass |
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"But the clean, baritonal attack of Kevin Burdette felt just right as Masetto. Burdette acted the part terrifically, giving Masetto sharp intelligence and a well-toned sense of irony to counter his volatile temper." -Washington Post "Michael Ball and Kevin Burdette are dazzling as rival poets" -Village Voice "Kevin Burdette [as Leporello]: Wow, what a package he is -- an actor personified, and a true-blue bass that's wonderfully deep but not too dark. Each time he was up, he topped his previous number. Articulation, projection, rapid-fire enunciations, and some thrilling rolled Rs left nothing to be desired." -Oak Ridger "Death, sung by Kevin Burdette, is perfect. His flexible bass is as authoritative as you would expect that of the Grim Reaper to be, but he is also convincing in farcical, ruminative and doubt-filled moments. His antic behavior and plastic facial expressions are wonderfully demented." -Berkshire Fine Arts "A sleek Kevin Burdette possesses a heroic smile and a supple bass voice that gleams with equal appeal as the rival poet Grosvenor." -Newark Star Ledger "Kevin Burdette contributed an Osmin who knew how to emphasize the comic aspect of his character without turning it into a farce." -Opera Canada "Kevin Burdette's dark bass suited Minos' music well." -Classics Today "Kevin
Burdette, who plays Death, is definitively the man to watch. In
addition to his powerhouse bass, his indomitable stage presence
makes Death the most interesting and dynamic character throughout.
Death and the Emperor's final scene together is the most moving
moment of the show, and though it lasts only a few minutes, the
skill with which the actors handle the timing makes it feel as though
the time stretches to keep the Emperor alive for just a little longer."
-Brandeis University's The Justice "American bass Kevin Burdette became an imposing Claudius . . . " -Toronto Globe and Mail "In the larger of these two roles, Arsamene's servant Elviro, bass-baritone Kevin Burdette brings buffo to the baroque as he attempts to impose sanity on his wayward superiors. Mr. Burdette's booming voice and impeccable diction are crucial to the endeavor. On the other hand, Mr. Burdette is not afraid to camp it up in the wobbly falsetto in Act II as he prances about the stage disguised as a flower girl." -Washington Times "Kevin Burdette is hilarious as the astrologer Siroco. He does a bizarre dance with a wedding cake attached to one hand, worthy of Groucho's Captain Spalding; and in a drunken duet, he and [King Ouf] walk off with the show." -Rochester City Newspaper "Kevin Burdette rose and let forth the most magnificent bass voice ever heard by this reviewer. His range was solid from the bottom to the top. Burdette has a great stage presence to go along with his magnificent sound. His voice rocked the walls of this large auditorium . . . there was no limit to the strength and power of this voice. Every word was clear and pure. Burdette's physical presence is astounding. He shows himself to be at ease in front of an audience and is in command of the stage every moment he is performing . . . Burdette used his technique and skills in both speed and delivery to highlight his musical skills." -Midland Daily News |
What else can I learn about Kevin?
