Lyric Opera's Show Boat, behind the scenes

chicagotribune.com: "I must be doing something not right," he quipped to Angela Renee Simpson, who plays Queenie opposite his Joe, as he stepped away. "I feel like a lot is getting stripped." With "stripped," he explained afterward, he was referring to the technique he has developed over many years as an opera singer. Robinson's instinct was to face forward and to belt out the song. Zambello, a casual presence in her black zippered sweatshirt, jeans and multicolored scarf, was trying to get him to walk around on the stage, to interact with his fellow singer-actors as if they were having a conversation and to turn away from the audience at times.