performer
As a performer, Jennifer Blades has a versatile career that includes both performing opera, cabaret, recitals, and concerts. She has been hailed as "always engaging" with a "juicy" and "colorful" tone full of "vocal vibrancy" and a "flair for comic mugging." Her operatic repertoire ranges from Purcell and Mozart to Bernstein and Britten, and she has also performed several Giblert and Sullivan roles, most notably Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance.
An avid cabaret singer, she performs throughout the United States, most often at Davenport's in Chicago and Germano's in Baltimore. Her most recent shows, Dear Santa and Love Me As I Am were seen by audiences in Chicago, Baltimore, and at New York's famed cabaret club Don't Tell Mama.
Her portrayal of Julia Child in Lee Hoiby's monologue opera, Bon Appetit, earned Ms. Blades a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for Solo Performance in Classical Music Solo Performance. She also received an Individual Artist Award for Solo Performance in Non-Classical Solo Performance for her cabaret work.
reviews
The Jennifer Blades
and
John Bowen
Cabaret Duo
"Jennifer Blades and John Bowen make cabaret magic together.
-Cyd Wolf, Executive Producer
Germano's Cabaret
Duchess of Plaza-Toro
The Gondoliers
Young Victorian Theatre Company
"The [Duke of Plaza-Toro] and ever-engaging Jennifer Blades (Duchess of same) nearly walk off with the show, putting an equally telling spin on musical numbers and spoken dialogue."
-Tim Smith,
The Baltimore Sun
Ruth
The Pirates of Penzance
Young Victorian Theatre Company
“Jennifer Blades, as the Frederic-smitten Ruth, delivered her usual dash of personality and vocal vibrancy.”
-Tim Smith,
The Baltimore Sun
Recital Program
The Nature of Song...and Love
An die Musik
“Blades beautifully explored the shadows of Jake Heggie’s
Songs to the Moon…”
-Tim Smith,
The Baltimore Sun
