Ryan McKinny Makes Emotional Role Debut in Breaking the Waves • April 2025
Houston, Texas
Ryan McKinny and Lauren Snouffer / Photo by Lynn Lane
Ryan McKinny, known for his relentless curiosity and riveting character portrayals, brings his muscular bass-baritone to the Houston premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves at Houston Grand Opera. McKinny discussed his role debut as the strong yet tender Jan Nyman with Houston outlets, focusing on the unique challenges of onstage intimacy and how artists translate dark and heavy material to the stage.
Houston Public Media: Mazzoli’s ‘Breaking the Waves’ makes its Houston debut
Houston Press: A Wife's Vows to Obey Her Husband in a Dark, Compelling Tale at HGO
Opera Cues: Out of Character
Critical Acclaim
Ryan McKinny and Lauren Snouffer / Photo by Lynn Lane
“The uniformly strong cast…all contributed vitally to profound impact of this opera. McKinny’s bass-baritone has warmth, resonance, and power, which underscored the strength and sensitivity of Bess’s husband, Jan Nyman, and made their initial love moving and his crippling accident poignant.”
Houston Chronicle
“The production is marvelously sung. McKinny boomed out his passion and joy with chasms to spare. Built like a castle wall, he has immense stage presence and a naked ass that rivals Teddy Tahu Rhodes from The End of the Affair, seen at HGO in 2004. The sight was worth the wait.
Houston Press
“HGO Butler Studio alumni Snouffer and McKinny led the stellar cast as Bess and Jan, the tragic lovers in this devastating yet ultimately transfigurative tour-de-force. The chemistry between them was palpable throughout. Their voices melded together in long, soaring lines in the duet “Your body is a map,” sung while making love with each other in liberating bliss. The sex scenes between the lovers never feel shocking or uncomfortable. McKinny’s charismatic bass-baritone rang true, even when confined to a hospital bed for a large part of the opera. He gave dimension to Jan’s character, with his plaintive pleading for Bess to sleep with other men, followed by his doubt and moral struggle.”
EarRelevant
“McKinny contributed quiet passion and a stout bass-baritone.”
Opera Magazine
“Although McKinny’s singing role is not as large as one might guess from his importance in the storyline, his voice is full and commanding. Before Jan commits Bess’ body wrapped in a white shroud to the waves of the sea, he holds her to him and sings. In the audience, you can hear a pin drop.”
PaperCity Magazine
“Importantly for the opera’s emotional impact, Snouffer also had great chemistry with McKinny’s Jan. McKinny’s baritone was all honey for most of the happy first Act, later adding a rasping growl as Jan turned towards illness, self-loathing, and grief. By his final scene, both his voice and posture dripped with pain. His quiet closing phrases were more visceral and deeply affecting.”
Parterre Box
“The heldenbaritone heft McKinny has brought to roles such as last season’s Amfortas in Wagner’s Parsifal enabled him to make impact galore—first as the brawny but affectionate bridegroom, then as the injured man issuing pleas and orders from his hospital bed. In the final scene, the tenderness McKinny gave Jan’s farewell to Bess—even a moment of falsetto as he recalled her voice—helped end the story on a note of consolation. And when the staging illustrated the sexual fireworks between the newlyweds, McKinny and Snouffer played out the scenes unabashedly but without raunchiness.”
Texas Classical Review