Charles Warthen is not your everyday baritone. Cast as the Cardinal Archbishop of the Cathedral in Rome in “Tosca,” his latest Virginia Opera role in the production coming to George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, he relishes performing in a violent, tragic opera while devoting his life to rescuing mankind from evil and sorrow.
The contrast is not lost on Virginia Opera-goers familiar with Warthen’s position as a member of the Xaverian Brothers, the teaching ministry founded in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839.
Amused by his rapid promotion to ecclesiastical heights via the Puccini vehicle, the Baltimore native chats about his current day job for the church that finds him balancing his serious duties at the Virginia Beach Psychiatric Center with the music he loves.
“We had music at home because my mother and aunt played the piano and I grew up listening to classical music and enjoying the theater and storytelling,” he says. “Although I always liked music, I never considered it as a career. I entered the church right after high school, and after spending 25 years with the brotherhood teaching French and Spanish to high school students up and down the East Coast, I became director of a homeless shelter in Staunton, Va., and served on the staff of a rehabilitation center in Fisherville. I was drawn to that work because those people are often neglected and marginalized.”
All the while, Warthen was engaged in drama and stage arts. When he was not conducting a church choir or glee club, he was performing in more than 30 productions of musicals like “Annie,” “Camelot” and “South Pacific.” His first plunge into opera was as an Ethiopian slave in the 1978 Wolf Trap Opera production of “Don Carlo.”
When he moved to Hampton Roads in 1997, he quickly connected with Virginia Opera, first as an usher, later as a cast member. To date, he has appeared in their productions of “Don Pasquale,” “Nabucco,” “Turandot,” “Carmen” and “Cavalleria Rusticana.”
“Whenever they need a religious character, a soldier or a valet, I’m happy to oblige,” he says. “‘Tosca’ is my favorite opera and I find great enjoyment studying the stagecraft and watching the audience reaction. Most people attending know the violent, dramatic story by heart. They’re just waiting for Tosca to leap off the parapet. I have my own five minutes of fame walking in a long, religious ceremony through the cathedral where she stabs Scarpia.”
If you go
Virginia Opera presents Puccini’s “Tosca”
Where: George Mason University Center for the Arts
When: 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Info: $44 to $98; 888-945-2468; tickets.com
