Thomas Hammons

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Thomas Hammons sadly left us yesterday.

My wife, Kimberly and I became friends with Tom and his wife, Veronique sometime after we moved to Cincinnati. We shared many good times together.

I reviewed Tom on my blog three times, both in performances with the Dayton Opera and with the Cincinnati Opera. In all cases I was impressed by his terrific acting chops and his excellent vocalism in roles that often go to comprimarios with little or no voice left.

Tom had an excellent bass-baritone voice that allowed him to sing roles that would never go to a buffo singer. He was a peerless Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème and a touching and amusingly grumpy Mr. Kofner in Menotti’s The Consul. And in the Cincinnati Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos he stole every scene he was in, as the boss’s officious manservant.

Tom created important roles in John Adams’ Nixon in China and in The Death of Klinghoffer which he went on to perform in Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, Lyons, Vienna, and throughout Canada and the United States. He made his début at the Metropolitan Opera as the Sacristan in Tosca during the 1996–1997 season, and then returned every season thereafter in performances of Andrea Chénier, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Billy Budd, La Bohème, Dialogues des Carmélites, Die Fledermaus, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, The Merry Widow and Le Nozze di Figaro.

The old cliché goes ”There are no small parts… only small actors” and I could not think of anyone who better exemplifies this bit of theatrical philosophy than my dear friend, Tom Hammons: a huge talent in any of the scores of roles – large or small – he played with the same amount of detail and humanity.

Rafael de Acha

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”

One thought on “Thomas Hammons”

  1. Rafael,

    I met Tom in 1984, I believe, at Chautauqua. It was just an introduction at a social event, but his persona stuck with me.

    Shortly thereafter, we would begin working together off and on through the years, right through the production of The Consul in Dayton you mention in your memorial here.

    Tom was truly a Renaissance man, on stage and off – a protégé of Italo Tajo (in fact, the true keeper of the Tajo flame), an officianado of modern art, and an extraordinarily intelligent wit! Most recently, he had begun teaching role characterization to aspiring young artists.

    I would venture that anyone who met him, loved him. I certainly did.

    Grieving with the entire opera world,

    Ken

    Kenneth Shaw Professor of Voice, CCM University of Cincinnati

    “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~ Arthur Ashe

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