Monroe stage a favorite for baritone Ron Ulen

Singer Ron Ulen lives in San Marcos, Texas, where he is a professor of voice at Texas State University. He has toured professionally in Europe for many years and returns there every summer, but lately he has become nearly a part-time Monroe resident — with eight performances under his belt, most recently as a soloist with the Monroe Symphony Orchestra. He'll return to Monroe this week to sing in the Louisiana Opera's production of the classic comedy, "The Barber of Seville."

His character in "Barber" is named Don Basilio, a dodgy music professor, "who's always out to make a dime." Since Ulen's first performance in Monroe in 2012, he has played a variety of roles here: the title character in "Rigoletto," the love-torn Marcello in "La Bohème," villains in "Slow Dusk" and "Pagliacci" and recently a loving father in "Dialogues of the Carmelites."

He told me that the role of Don Basilio in "Barber" is a new one for him: "I'm really looking forward to playing the role, looking forward to the production."

Then Ulen said, "Often, my friends in San Marcos see that I'm making another trip to Monroe to perform in an opera or a concert, and they ask me, 'What's with this place? Why do you keep going to Monroe?'

"And I tell them, 'It's a great town. I'm treated royally. The people that I've met are all so supportive and kind. I really enjoy going back. Since my very first opera, 'Rigoletto,' in 2012, I've been given a wonderful place to stay by my host family, who have become my good friends. I get to eat in great restaurants and even meet the chefs. I've learned how to eat crawfish. ..."

"But all of that is icing on the cake. The real reason why I come back to Monroe is to support opera. It is my hope to help this great art form to survive and thrive, whether it be in Monroe or anywhere in the United States or in the world. I'm glad to be part of it. I hope to keep coming back.'"

Born into a military family, Ulen says that he moved around the country while growing up, but calls Minnesota home. His father, a Navy aviator, had a farm background, and Ulen spent many summers as a boy working on relatives' farms in Minnesota — in hot August hayfields, pitching heavy bales of hay onto wagons, then unloading the wagons later at the barn.

In high school, he played football, baseball, basketball and put the shot in track and field. When he attended Minnesota State University, Mankato, as a business major, he played saxophone in local groups — polka bands, dance bands — to help pay his way through school. Somewhere along the line, he joined the university choir and his strong singing voice was noticed.

Soon, Ulen was performing in musical theater — summer stock, regional shows. At the same time, he received his bachelor's degree from Minnesota, plus two master's degrees from Florida State University.

An early break came when he joined the National Opera Company, a well-regarded touring company. Ulen spent three seasons traveling the United States, singing 120 performances a season. Those were important formative years, with everyone in the company doing a little of everything: unloading trucks, carrying equipment, setting up scenery, doing makeup and costumes, then striking the set at the end of the night in order to hit the road for the next gig.

When Ulen comes to Monroe this week to sing in "The Barber of Seville," he'll be coming straight from a tour of China, where he will have given master classes and concerts in Shanghai and Beijing, highlighted by a performance of the "Mozart Requiem" in the Forbidden City Concert Hall. When his plane lands in Houston, he'll drive straight to Monroe, just in time to join the rest of the "Barber" cast in rehearsals. And not long after "Barber," he'll be off to Europe for his annual summer of teaching and singing.

Anyone who's seen Ulen on stage knows that he's a true man of the theater — an exuberant, high-energy actor, expert in both tragedy and comedy. Once, during the dress rehearsal of "La Bohème" in Monroe, someone knocked over a bottle of wine (actually cranberry juice), and Ulen never stopped singing. He found a towel somewhere, calmly kneeled on the floor and cleaned things up while the scene continued without a hitch. I thought to myself, "Now, there's a real actor."

From 1989-2006, Ulen lived full-time in Europe, singing operas on hundreds of stages: See his website at www.ronulen.com. He has sung in Switzerland and Germany as well as Paris, Vienna, Rome, New York, Miami, Washington D.C., Chicago, Chattanooga, Raleigh, and on and on. There's not enough room here to list all the countries he has visited. Not enough room to list the ninety roles he has sung or the thousands of performances he has given.

William Caverlee has been writing features for The News-Star since 2010. He is a contributing editor of The Oxford American Magazine and the author of "Amid the Swirling Ghosts and Other Essays" (University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press).

WANT TO GO?

What: "The Barber of Seville"

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall at the University of Louisiana at Monroe

Cost: $25 general admission; $10 for students with ID. Patron tickets are $50 for reserved seat plus a reception with the artists after the performance. Tickets available at the door; or by phone at 342-3247; or at Fiesta Nutrition, 1211 N. 18th St., Monroe

Info: 342-3247 or www.ulm.edu/vapa/opera/