About Us

Texas Light Opera is a non-profit organization and was formed in June of 2011. The primary goal of the organization is to showcase music from great classical composers through new works by Bernard J Taylor. The company will also be open to producing works by other writers/composers that incorporate aspects of our classical cultural heritage in works that have the potential to attract a wide audience.

Nicole Erwin, Executive Director/Founder

Nicole began piano lessons at the age of seven and participated in many musicals and plays in Elementary School, Junior and Senior High. She has been singing since she was a young child and has performed in musicals, operas, dance halls, churches, and fairs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Music with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Denver Lamont School of Music. Her performing credits include the San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers, Lamont Opera Theater, Lamont Jazz Choir, The Ensemble Experience, Colorado Children’s Chorale, Opera Colorado as well as many churches and organizations. Performing credits include: Don Giovanni, La Boheme, Die Meistersinger, Hansel and Gretel, Guys and Dolls, The Pajama Game, Little Mary Sunshine, The Most Happy Fella, Fiddler on the Roof and Brigadoon. In addition to her interest in computers, advertising and marketing, she has also been trained in speech, modeling and acting. Her self-produced album, "Lone Star Lonely" was recorded in Nashville and had two single releases, "Ain’t No Heartache" and "Tied to the Wheel of Runaway Heart" - both were Top Album Cuts in the Gavin Magazine’s Country Chart. Recognizing her success, Nicole received the "Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year" award from the Entertainer Indie Association.

Nicole is also a voice over artist and has produced several commericals and on-hold messages. For more information see NicoleErwin.com and VoiceOversByNicole.com.

Dr. William McCrary, Associate Director

Dr. William McCrary is the Director of Lyric Theatre and an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Since moving to Texas in 2001, Dr. McCrary has established UTSA as a leader in Lyric Theatre education in the city and state and in 2006, his efforts were awarded when he received the UTSA President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Creative Production. Prior to moving to Texas, he taught voice and opera theatre at the University of New Orleans. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Montana, a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from San Francisco State University, and a Doctor of Arts in Voice Performance/Pedagogy and Opera Direction from the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley. He graduated from UNC with high honors and received the UNC Graduate Dean’s Citation for Excellence.

An active stage director in Musical Theatre and Opera, McCrary is known for his creative and insightful productions. In 2010 McCrary directed the world premiere of David Heuser’s opera, A Brief History of Root Vegetables for UTSA. Past productions include Working, Das Barbecu, and Falsettos for CSU, Chico’s Court Theatre, The Magic Flute, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Madama Butterfly for Lyric Opera of San Antonio (now San Antonio Opera), the award winning production of Beauty and the Beast (ATAC Awards: Best Musical, Best Director of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress), Evita, State Fair, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Jekyl and Hyde for the San Pedro Playhouse (San Antonio, TX), the critically acclaimed Evita, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me, Kate, and Cabaret for the Jefferson Performing Arts Society (New Orleans, LA.), and Die Fledermaus, Cosi fan tutte, The Pirates of Penzance, The Magic Flute, The Medium, The Old Maid and the Thief, Sour Angelica, Working, South Pacific, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Marriage of Figaro, Hansel and Gretel, The Consul, Forever Plaid, Das Barbecu, and a world premier opera by Seymour Barab, Gods of Mischief for UTSA. Dr. McCrary is an active proponent of children’s opera education and has directed several opera education productions including: Brundibar (for UTSA and performed in Terezin, the Czech Republic town where the opera’s tragic history lies), The Pied Piper of Hamelin (UTSA), Hansel and Gretel (UTSA), Little Red Riding Hood (UTSA), Down in the Valley (UNC), Chip and His Dog (UNO), Trouble in Tahiti (UNO), The Face on the Barroom Floor (UNO), Porgy and Bess (Metropelican Opera/New Orleans Opera), and Evangeline (Metropelican Opera/New Orleans Opera).

Tommy Miller, Technical Consultant

Tommy is the chief executive officer of the Josephine Theatre where he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the theatre.
He has been associated with the Josephine Theatre in San Antonio since it was first converted back into a live theatre at the end of the 1980s and has served the theatre in a number of roles including Music Director and Technical Director. 
In his early days he played various musical instruments including piano, saxophone and oboe.  He has also acted and sang in a number of productions at the Josephine, most of them directed by his sister Missy. The roles he has played in productions at the Josephine include William Travis, in Bernard J. Taylor's musical, Liberty! The Siege of The Alamo, which had its world premiere at the Josephine in 1999, receiving nightly standing ovations.

Rebecca Greenstein, Creative Associate

Rebecca holds two degrees in the arts including a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the highly regarded theatre arts school Texas State University with an emphasis on Vocal Performance. By the time of graduation, Ms. Greenstein had received numerous awards and accolades including "Musician of the Year," "Who’s Who" and acquired more scholarships to further her academic career. She continued her education in all aspects of stagecraft on and behind the scenes including: stage lighting, costuming and wardrobe, hair and make-up, theatre management, contract negotiations, material preparation, web design, public relations and marketing. As a performer, she received training and experience in stage and TV/film acting, voice-over, vocal performance, stage movement, dance, and stage direction. Ms. Greenstein has toured nationally and appeared with musical theatre companies such as Austin Musical Theatre, Violet Crown Players, Zilker Theatre Productions, and Austin Musical Theatre and can be heard on the Original Cast Recording of Liberty by Bernard J. Taylor.

After several years of performing in New York, Ms. Greenstein decided to merge her Broadway training with her love for opera where she began to take on operatic roles with such companies as Dicapo Opera, The National Lyric Opera, and has performed at the Szeged National Opera in Hungary in a live performance of Tobias Picker’s Emmeline which was broadcast in 39 European companies as a part of the Mezzo Television Festival and Competition. As both an actress and as a singer, you can see and hear Ms. Greenstein in the feature film Coup de Grace that premiered at the 2008 Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals, as the singing voice for the lead actress in the film, in both opera and jazz genres.

Ms. Greenstein has taken on various duties including costume supervisor, makeup and hair design (training and working under the direction of Saturday Night Live makeup artist, Mitch Ely, for the New York premiere of Conrad Suza's The Dangerous Liaisons). She has worked for such companies as Dicapo Opera Theatre and The National Lyric Opera, among others in technical theater. With this unique skill set, and such a wide range of mediums, Ms. Greenstein decided to accept the opportunity whereby she uses her diverse talents and became Executive Director of Opera Moderne. For more information on Opera Moderne and other production work by Ms. Greenstein, please visit OperaModerne.com and GreenProductionsNYC.com

Bernard J. Taylor, Artistic Advisor/Composer in Residence

Bernard J. Taylor is the composer/writer of ten stage musicals, four full length plays and two short plays. His first musical was Wuthering Heights, based on the classic novel by Emily Brontë. It enjoyed the rare distinction of an endorsement from the Brontë Society and some of the music was recorded and released by Silva Screen Records at the beginning of 1992.  The recording received wide acclaim, and the music was described on BBC Radio by Herbert Kretzmer (lyricist for "Les Miserables") as "having the breadth and sweep of a great novel" and a "romantic intensity not heard since the heyday of Novello". The show was to be the first musical produced by The Theatre Division, created by Andrew Lloyd Webber's former management team, but the company went bankrupt after putting on two plays. A try-out production of Wuthering Heights took place in Holland at the beginning of 1994, receiving nightly standing ovations and excellent reviews. A five year worldwide option was bought by a Dutch producer, who mounted two tours of Holland. After the option expired, there were a number of productions in various countries.

Thereafter he wrote nine more musicals and around 2007 began writing plays, producing four full length plays so far. To date there have been more than 80 productions of his musicals worldwide (the most popular being Pride and Prejudice with around 40 productions in eight countries, and Wuthering Heights, with around 15 productions in six countries).

For further information, see bernardjtaylor.com and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_J._Taylor.

Edward Figgins, Theatrical Consultant

Professor Edward Figgins is Associate Professor of Theatre and Communications at Ashland Community College, Kentucky, and Director of Theatre for the J.B. Sowards Theatre. He has staged many productions, including two of Bernard J. Taylor's musicals - Nosferatu and Wuthering Heights. He and his students also took part in the first ever recording of Snow White and the evil Queen, one of the shows planned by Texas Light Opera. He is a graduate of Morehead State University, where he studied theatre and communications.