John DeMain isn't the only Madisonian who will appear in this fall's production of "Porgy and Bess" at the famous Lyric Opera of Chicago.

While DeMain, the artistic director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Opera, will conduct the performance, another Madisonian, Gregory Brumfield, will be singing in the chorus. The show opens Nov. 18.

Brumfield came to Madison from Indiana in 1980 as a freshman at the University of Wisconsin. Since then, he's performed with Children's Theatre of Madison, Madison Repertory Theatre, Madison Opera and many more. He has also appeared in productionst in New York City, Princeton, New Jersey and Virginia.

Most recently, he played Sen. Billboard Rawkins in Oregon Straw Hat Players' production of "Finian's Rainbow," directed by David Lawver.

In addition to performing, Brumfield teaches voice lessons and works as a job coach for the mentally and physically handicapped. He will depart for a six-month, three-opera stint with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in October.

77 Square caught up with Brumfield not long after "Finian's Rainbow" closed:

How did you begin performing, and why did you choose UW-Madison?

My mom is pretty much the reason I started singing. I started performing when I was a kid in my church back in Gary, Indiana. I would sing around the house and my mom thought I had a good voice. She urged me to take voice lessons from our choir director at our church, Eva Brooks. I started when I was 8 and continued until I was 18 and came to the university.

I came here because of Robert Fountain, the choral director and vocal coach. I was in the concert choir. During my tenure here at the university, I also became friends with his wife Claire. He was a great, great musician.

Every spring we toured the Midwest and all over Wisconsin. One year we went as far away as New York.

Then you went east. What were you looking for?

I was looking for different vocal training, and I thought on the east coast I'd have more opportunity to go to New York City. (Attending Westminster Choir College in Princeton from 1982-85) did open up a lot of opportunities for me. With the symphonic choir, I got to perform at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall.

You started performing with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1998 as a chorister. How did you get involved with the Lyric?

In 1998 they did the world premiere opera "Amistad," about the black slave revolt on a slave ship. There was a movie that came out about the same time. So, I went down and auditioned and I got a part in the chorus. Then I saw they were doing "Porgy and Bess," and last December I went and auditioned. I'm playing "crap shooter number three," understudying another role and I'm in the chorus as a second bass.

A second bass? That's pretty low.

I'm a bass-baritone. I have those low notes. I sung the (Porgy and Bess) role before, in the chorus in the Virginia Opera in 2000. I was an undertaker in that one.

Do you think "Porgy and Bess" is an important work for African-American performers?

I think it's a very, very important work. The Gershwin estate stated that it only wanted it to be performed by African-American actors and singers, and it's great testament to them. The music is very, very difficult. There's no way an untrained singer can perform in "Porgy and Bess." They wanted blacks, people of color, to be able to go into music schools and learn classical music.

John DeMain is conducting it. I didn't know that until I got involved in the project. It's going to be a great, great time.

Are you looking forward to singing under John DeMain?

Yes, I'm pretty excited about that. I worked with him before in Madison in "Turandot," the first show at the Overture with Madison Opera. I sang the role of the Mandarin, which is the first voice you hear in the opera. It's a small part but an important one.

(In Chicago) there are three operas I'm going to perform in. Besides "Porgy and Bess," there's "I Pagliacci" and "Cavalleria Rusticana." I'll be in Chicago for six months, October through early April.

You've performed King Balthazaar in "Amahl and the Night Visitors" several times in the Madison area. Tell me about that role.

That's an opera by Gian Carlo Menotti, a Christmas opera. I play the role of the Nubian, the black king who goes to visit the Christ child on the first Christmas. We, the wise men, stop for lodging at a young boy's home whose name is Amahl. He's disabled; he has a limp. King Balthazaar is a majestic role. "Night Visitors" is done at Christmas all the time. It's short and it's in English.

Because it's in English and shorter, do you think it's more approachable? Are there are a lot of children in the audience -- do you get more variety in age?

Absolutely. I've noticed that usually the audiences I perform for are middle-aged to older people, but it depends on the show. For "Little Shop of Horrors" (with Middleton Players Theatre) there were a lot of young people there. (Brumfield played Audrey II, the man-eating plant.)

In "Finian's Rainbow" (a 1947 musical political satire), there were a lot of kids involved in the show. I was there as a guest artist in Oregon. I played a white senator who magically turns black because I'm such a racist. I wore whiteface make-up. The lead in the show says, "I wish you were black so you could understand." There's a big thunderclap, I turn around, and I'm black.

How did the audience react?

We got applause after that effect a couple of times. People were pretty impressed with it. That role was fun, but it was odd saying some of the racist things the senator says in the show. The other African Americans in the cast appreciated me saying it rather than a white guy doing it. It's played by a white actor who goes into blackface usually, but for a white actor to appear in blackface now -- that's probably illegal.

How does being African-American impact the kind of parts you get or audition for?

I've been pretty lucky. The role I played in "Little Women" (with Stoughton Opera in 2007) was traditionally done by a white guy, but the producers of that show thought I had the voice to play the father. It was a multiracial cast. My wife in the production was white but there were some other actors/singers of color in the production.

In opera, it's becoming more and more commonplace that they hire untraditional actors to play traditional roles, which I think is great. It gives more minority singers opportunities to perform in a show, where in the past they would have never had the opportunity.

Do you have a particularly memorable opera role or experience you'd like to talk about?

Fortunately, I've had a lot of good experiences in theater, most of them here in Madison. Whenever I perform in Chicago it's always really exciting, but some of the best experiences have been here in Madison, especially with CTM when Nancy Thurow ran it. I did "Big River" with her in 1994 and 2003. I played Jim, the runaway slave.

Also with them, I played Jacob Marley's ghost in Christmas Carol (during Christmas 2005). I music directed that show as well.

Do you prefer performing or music directing?

I think I'm more of a performer than a music director. I enjoy teaching kids what I know about being in theater, about how to approach a role, how to be a professional, respecting the space and the other actors. That's very important to me.

But I love to perform, and when I'm a music director I don't get to do that. I think I'm more suited to be a performer, a singer, to being out there on the stage. It's where I feel the most comfortable. I think I've been blessed with a pretty good voice. It's good to get up and share my God-given gift with people.

Are you looking to perform in Madison again when you return?

I would love to perform with any local group. CTM has undergone a lot of changes in the last few years, but I see that they do a lot of good work and I respect the artistic staff. I just take it as it comes. I'm sure I'll be working in Madison again soon.