Spotlight on Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Benanti

Two of Broadway’s most celebrated performers take the stage at Lyric for one unforgettable night. On Friday, October 10 at 7:00 p.m., Tony Award winners Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Benanti join Maestro Rob Fisher and the full Lyric Opera Orchestra for the Lyric Opening Concert, launching the 2025/26 Season with a dynamic evening of Broadway favorites, jazz standards, and timeless classics from the Great American Songbook.

Brian Stokes Mitchell, called “the last leading man” by The New York Times, brings decades of experience across Broadway, film, television, and the concert stage. His iconic performances include Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime, Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate — for which he won a Tony Award — and Cervantes/Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, which earned him a Tony nomination. He has also been nominated for his work in King Hedley II and has appeared in productions of Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jelly’s Last Jam, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Shuffle Along.

Mitchell has performed with leading orchestras around the world, appeared on dozens of television shows, and served for many years as chairman of the Entertainment Community Fund. He has also produced and orchestrated several solo albums, including Simply Broadway and Plays with Music.

Watch him perform “Make Them Hear You” from Ragtime in a powerful live concert at the Kennedy Center, alongside the Let Freedom Ring Choir:

Brian Stokes Mitchell sings "Make Them Hear You" from Ragtime at The Kennedy Center in 2019

Also enjoy his stirring rendition of “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha, performed live at the 2020 A Capitol Fourth PBS concert:

 Brian Stokes Mitchell Performs "The Impossible Dream" on the 2020 A Capitol Fourth on PBS

Laura Benanti made her Broadway debut at 18 in The Sound of Music and quickly became one of musical theater’s most dynamic stars. She won a Tony Award for her performance as Louise in Gypsy, alongside Patti LuPone, and has earned nominations for roles in Into the Woods, Nine, She Loves Me, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Other Broadway credits include My Fair Lady, Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower, and her 2024 one-woman show Nobody Cares.

Benanti is also widely recognized for her work on screen, including appearances in Life & Beth, Younger, Gossip Girl, and The Gilded Age, as well as acclaimed turns in Tick, Tick…Boom! and Worth. She is a bestselling author, a frequent concert headliner, and a sharp satirist.

Hear her sing “Vanilla Ice Cream” from She Loves Me in this performance from PBS’s Great Performances:

Laura Benanti sings "Vanilla Ice Cream" from She Loves Me on PBS's Great Performances

For a glimpse of her comic brilliance, watch this tongue-in-cheek performance of “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” opposite Christopher Fitzgerald in 2015 at MCC's beloved concert series 'Miscast':

 Laura Benanti and Christopher Fitzgerald sing "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" from The Sound of Music

Don’t Miss the Lyric Opening Concert

Celebrate the official start of Lyric’s new season with an evening of extraordinary music and artistry. See two of Broadway’s brightest stars (and original castmates from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown!) reunite on Chicago’s biggest stage for one night only, Friday, October 10.