Curt Olds
Director
With an active career in both opera and musical theatre, baritone Curt Olds has been seen in productions ranging from Don Pasquale and Die Zauberflöte to musicals such as A Little Night Music, The Threepenny Opera, Broadway’s Riverdance, and Cats. Hailed by Opera News as “A wonderful singing actor, as adept in pointing dialogue as in phrasing song,” Curt is best known for his portrayal of the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and his signature role as Ko-Ko in The Mikado, for which he has some 22 productions to his credit.
Curt joined the International Tour of The Phantom of the Opera as Andre in January of 2019, which continued performances through the end of 2020 in Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tel Aviv, and South Korea. In that season he also returned to Bigfork Summer Playhouse to direct 9 to 5 as well as Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre for The Fantasticks and 33 Variations.
Recently, Olds reprised his classic performances of The Pirates of Penzance as Major General Stanley with Nashville Opera and the Pirate King with Anchorage Opera, in addition to performing as the Baker in Into the Woods with Tulsa Opera. The summer of 2023 marked the first season of Curt’s position as Director of Artistic Planning at Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre. He also directed the UIA Presents production of Sweeney Todd at Pacific Symphony. This season, he rejoins the International Tour of The Phantom of the Opera as Andre, with stops throughout China.
As a director, Olds also worked with UIA Presents on their production of My Fair Lady: In Concert as the Creator of Musical Staging and Adapting Director in performances with the Milwaukee Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, and Utah Symphony. He also directed Il barbiere di Siviglia for Utah Festival and a special revue he created for Central City Opera entitled Encore: A Musical Revue.
Living up to his singing actor pedigree, Mr. Olds has experience on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in regional and international houses. He played Monsieur Baurel in the workshop of An American in Paris directed by Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon; Gus in the Original German Company of Cats; Walt in Threepenny Opera starring Bea Arthur at NYC’s Lortel Theatre; Cecil in A Room With a View at NYC’s York Theatre; Mr. Lindquist in A Little Night Music at Boston’s North Shore Theatre; Bob Wallace in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas at Theatre on the Square; and he spent two years in the Broadway company of Riverdance. Other favorite theatre engagements include Pete Bartel in Pete ‘N’ Keely, Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun, Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate, Franklin Hart, Jr. in 9 to 5, The Musical, and the Baker in Into the Woods.
A consummate “cross-over” artist, Olds has performed some theatre repertoire favorites on opera stages throughout the country including the Emcee in Cabaret at The Atlanta Opera, Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd at Opera Omaha, Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady at Ash Lawn Opera, Will Parker in Oklahoma! and Frank Schultz in Show Boat at Central City Opera, Herman in The Most Happy Fella with Tulsa Opera, Max in The Sound of Music with Anchorage Opera, Luther Billis in South Pacific with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Harold Hill in The Music Man with Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls with New Haven Symphony, Petruchio/Fred in Kiss Me, Kate at MCT, Inc., Roy Johnson in The Light in the Piazza with Central City Opera, and Bob Wallace in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas at Little Theatre on the Square.
Olds is also in demand and has garnered international acclaim for his creative portrayals of an array of characters in the operetta repertoire. Career highlights include such performances as: Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore with Eugene Opera, Arizona Opera, and Central City Opera; Ko-Ko in The Mikado with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Central City Opera, Opera New Jersey, Arizona Opera, and Anchorage Opera; The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with Edmonton Opera, Lake George Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, and Arizona Opera; Pangloss/Voltaire in Candide with the New England Conservatory; Falke in Die Fledermaus at Lake George Opera; Dick McGann in Street Scene at Central City Opera; Pangloss/Voltaire/ Martin/Cacambo/Candide in Candide with Arizona Opera, Anchorage Opera, and in concert with the South Dakota Symphony; Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance with The Atlanta Opera, Intermountain Opera, Nashville Opera, and Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, among others; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Hawaii Opera Theatre; and Njegus in The Merry Widow for Utah Opera.
On the concert stage, Olds performed Orff’s Carmina Burana with Boston Symphony Pro Musica, Händel’s Chandos Anthem No. 5 at the Omaha Symphony, in an all Gilbert and Sullivan concert with Cincinnati Opera, in a gala with Wolf Trap Opera, in a Purcell recital with Anchorage Opera, in Madison Theater Christmas Celebration: A Home for the Holidays at Madison Theater, and in New York City Opera’s Fach’d Up concert. Additionally, Olds is seen regularly on Pops stages throughout the U.S. including Ridgefield Symphony, Brazos Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Colorado Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony. He made his New York recital début at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Gerald Steichen at the piano.
Gaining momentum as a recording and voice-over artist, Olds recorded commercials and promotional materials with clients including Planet Hollywood Casinos, Books Beyond Pages, Ethan Allen Furniture, and the syndicated PBS feature Northwest Explorer. Curt is also featured on the soundtrack of the Disney animated film A Christmas Carol starring Kate Winslet and Nicholas Cage.
As a director, Mr. Olds has directed productions of My Fair Lady, The Mikado, Spamalot!, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cats, Carmen, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Pirates of Penzance, and more at regional theatres and in educational institutions. He has also given a variety of masterclasses at young artist programs and universities, demonstrating an investment in emerging talents in the performing arts.
Curt holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He was also a winner in Portland Opera’s Lieber Awards and was named McGlone Artist of the Year at Central City Opera.