SCHYLER
VARGAS
IN THE NEWS
UNKNOWN
A DRAMATIC SONG CYCLE BY SHAWN OKPEBHOLO | URBANARIAS
“The most arresting performance came from Vargas as the mortally wounded young soldier. This passage finds Amaker at his most eloquent, expressing the soldier’s stoic acceptance of his fate and the realization that he was made to have an ending. The power of the words is equaled by the emotion conveyed through the music at the exact moment that a soldier makes the ultimate sacrifice.”
SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL
“The most challenging vocal part fell to baritone Schyler Vargas, who channeled his inner R&B singer to croon the third song’s forays into his falsetto range, echoed by misty saxophone and a halo of strings.” ... “Vargas distinguished himself with a composed, silken rendition of 'Tom Sails Away' by Charles Ives, a WWI-era song complete with allusions to the tune of George M. Cohan’s 'Over There.'”
WASHINGTON CLASSICAL REVIEW
“'Silence will soon pass through me,' baritone Schyler Vargas sang from the stage. And at the very edge of this line, his voice slowed down and lilted up like a last breath: 'and I will remember that I was made to have an ending.' Okpebholo and Amaker seem to specialize in moments like this, effortless musical updrafts that set the unbearable aflight. Vargas was joined onstage by another powerful baritone, Michael Mayes, as well as the revelatory mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven, and the singers were accompanied on piano by Wei-Han Wu and by Inscape Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Wood.”
THE WASHINGTON POST
IOLANTHE
STREPHON | MASTERVOICES AT CARNEGIE HALL
NEW YORK CLASSICAL REVIEW
“Ashley Fabian’s Phyllis was a vision of sunshine and joy, smitten with the dashing half-fairy Strephon as played by an equally, radiantly positive Schyler Vargas. Fabian’s lovely lyric soprano blended with Vargas’s robust baritone as they sang of their love and frustration that if they wed, pursuant to fairy law Strephon must die.”
THEATER PIZZAZZ
“As for Fabian, with her glistening soprano, and Vargas, with his warm commanding baritone, they not only shone every time they sang but also when they spoke, grasping both the comedy and pathos of their roles. These two are among the finest operatic actors I’ve seen recently, and I predict very bright futures for them both.”
THE FRONT ROW CENTER
“The soaring, beautifully poignant love duet, None Shall Part Us, performed by Strephon (Schyler Vargas) and Phyllis (Ashley Fabian), was romantic, passionate, and conveyed well the depth and intensity of the music.”
BROADWAYWORLD
“Schyler Vargas was a lively Strephon”
PARTERRE BOX
“One while more or less expect the big names to be good, but the night ultimately belonged to the relative newcomers. Soprano Ashley Fabian and baritone Schyler Vargas approached their roles with the palpable excitement of singers who are rounding the bend on their big breaks. Fabian combined a voice of immense warmth and scintillating spin with subtle comedic timing, as feisty shepherdess Phyllis, while Vargas displayed a radiant, sunny baritone, a highly developed sense of line, and irrepressible exuberance and sincerity as Strephon. These two are clearly stars in the making.”
BLOGCRITICS
“...both with acting skills to match their top-notch singing, struck just the right balance of tenderness and lightheartedness…”
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
CONNIE/RAGGED MAN | MASTERVOICES AT CARNEGIE HALL
SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL
“Vargas’s Connie had an engaging charm and sparkle, which was magnified by his exciting baritone voice.” ... “a starlit night for the tender, romantic duet between Mikaela Bennet’s Rose of Sharon and Schyler Vargas’s smooth-talking Connie Rivers.”
NEW YORK THEATRE REVIEW
“Tom Joad (Kyle Oliver) is ripe for radicalizing, and a 'burnt out holy-roller' turned strike leader (Schyler Vargas, superb in several variegated roles) is the one to push him over the edge, saying: 'Why not attack the need instead of the needy?'”
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
MERCURY | THE GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL
LA CALISTO
“Schyler Vargas, attractive in form and voice, plied his warm, ingratiating and insinuating baritone to terrific effect as a sexy Mercury, unashamedly swiveling his hips as he oozed unctuously about the stage.”
OPERA TODAY
DC THEATRE ARTS
“There are other standout performances. Schyler Vargas nearly steals the show as Mercury, Jove’s sidekick and partner in seductions. Dressed in a copper-colored metallic jumpsuit, he carries Mercury’s identifiable caduceus, a kind of magic wand or staff, and plays it as if it were an electric guitar and he a rock star. The chemistry he displays with Irvin makes their relationship something of a boys’-night-out bromance and male predation look like fun.”
ELIZABETH CREE
INSPECTOR KILDARE | THE GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL
OPERA TODAY
“As Inspector Kildare the assertive baritone Schyler Vargas has a self-assured vocal presence conveying an effortless, burnished authority. Mr. Vargas is a gifted actor as well, as evidenced by his playful manipulations as the self-serving detective.”
CANDIDE
MAXIMILLIAN | THE GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL
“One wished that the edition had afforded Rogali’s Paquette and Schyler Vargas’s campily vain Maximilian more to do.”
THE WASHINGTON POST
“Schyler Vargas was a convincingly vain Maxmilian, handsome and properly stupid.”
CLASSICS TODAY
CARMEN
MORALES | OPERA THEATER OF ST. LOUIS
OPERA NEWS
“Schyler Vargas projected a relaxed, pleasing baritone as Morales.”
THE WOLF/CINDERELLA'S PRINCE | HOLY CITY ARTS & LYRIC OPERA
INTO THE WOODS
“Some of the acting stood out. Audrey C. Black’s cheeky Red Riding Hood was just the ticket to portray the knife-wielding upstart, and was well-matched by Schyler Vargas’ lip-smacking Wolf. He was also comic catnip in his other role as Cinderella’s Prince.”
THE POST AND COURIER- CHARLESTON SCENE