(Updated) NEWS AND LINKS: Morris to replace Heppner in SD Opera's "Moby Dick" for balance of run

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

You just knew this had to happen. Ben Heppner has withdrawn from the title role of the San Diego Opera production of Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick and will be replaced tomorrow night, Friday and Sundayt by Jay Hunter Morris, which — any way you look at it — is a very high-powered substitute.

Morris sang the role in Australia Opera’s production of Moby Dick last August. More recently, he made headlines for stepping in to sing the role of Siegfried with distinction in the Metropolitan Opera’s productions of Siegfried and Götterdämerung as part of that company’s new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.

And therein lies a backstory, which you can read HERE. As the old adage says,” What goes around comes around.” Or, as the late, great comedienne Anna Russell once said of the Ring, “I’m not making this up, you know.”

Ticket sales are reportedly very strong so buy ahead of time on the Web site if you're going to attend. Information: www.sdopera.com

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(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.