Swinging the Spotlight on Sharon Ryman

For over two decades, COC Wigs and Makeup Supervisor Sharon Ryman has helped design visions leap from the page to the stage by creating countless hair and makeup looks that have transformed our artists into everything from Roman emperors to Shakespearean antiheroes to a real-life Canadian icon creatively imagined in a contemporary new opera.

Between mainstage productions, she’s regularly lent her talents to publicity shoots and video captures and magically always has a comb at the ready to tame an unruly hair into submission.

Now, however, she’ll be spending fewer of her evenings at the opera house – or at least, she’ll have the opportunity to attend from the other side of the curtain – following her retirement from the Canadian Opera Company after the close of our fall operas.

We couldn’t resist asking Sharon which of the many productions she has worked on would make her Top 10 list as the most challenging, rewarding, or memorable overall. And in true Sharon fashion, she went over and beyond to give us a “Top 10 (plus one!)”.

Take a stroll down memory lane below as we wish Sharon all the very best for this new chapter ahead!

Tosca

"This has a very special place in my heart, as it was the very first opera I ever worked on at Manitoba Opera when I was 19 years old. I've done Tosca six times in my 44-year career. Our current production (which last showed at the COC in spring of 2023) with the dream team of Paul Curran and Kevin Knight is just about perfect in my opinion. I shouldn’t forget to mention having Adrienne Pieczonka in that iconic title role in 2015 was amazing."

Bluebeard and Ewartung

"This was one of my first shows with the COC. As it was a revival, I think it was great to make something old new again. One thing I’ve learned is that if Robert Lepage is at the helm, it’s got to be amazing. His stage magic gets me every time! He's definitely a hero of mine."

The Barber of Seville

"I'm a sucker for Rossini music, it makes me happy. If you’ve ever been at the opera house when we do Barber, you would have seen a bit of a dance in my step as I walked down the halls backstage. Both productions we've done in my time at the COC are very clever!"

Cosi Fan Tutti

"Those 18th-century blue ship wigs, do you remember them? You may not, as they were only onstage for two and half minutes. But it took longer to put them on the girls’ heads than they were on stage! Each of those stunning wigs took one full month to make, between collaborating with the milliner and our prop shop to get the final, beautifully finished product. I was terrified they would be cut from the show! But I’m sure our director, Atom Egoyan, didn’t have the heart to do that to me."

Falstaff

"I’ve worked on Falstaff twice in my time at the COC, but it’s the more recent one, directed by Robert Carson, that has my heart. His shows are always rich in storytelling and the characters are always well thought-out. The design of this show was simply amazing. We co-produced this show with a few other opera companies. All the other companies chose a singer to play Falstaff who already physically embodied the character. However, for our production, we cast the exceptionally slim and fit Gerald Findlay to play Sir John. He was a perfect voice choice. But the Wig, Makeup, and Costume teams had a little extra work to transform Gerald into the notoriously rotund knight. We worked on an extremely tight timeline with some international special effects people to bring this character to life. Opera singers are definitely not used to having a two-hour makeup call for full face prosthetics! But Gerald was ever the professional and with two makeup artists, and 1.5 hours before every show, we made the amazing transformation."

War and Peace

"This was a monster to put together. There weren’t enough dressing rooms to get the makeup done, people had to take turns in their own dressing rooms. The thing about this production was when you watched it from the audience, it looked so beautiful and effortless, but all of us backstage knew the real story. I’ll never tell how much vodka was consumed on that show! The cast again was amazing."

Eugene Onegin

"I think, after doing this opera four times in my career, it’s probably my all-time favorite opera, especially for the music. Our production, directed by Robert Carsen and designed by Michael Levine, is just so beautiful and spare; everything is said through the music, the design, and the storytelling."

The Nightingale and Other Stories

"As Robert Lepage is a favorite, I had to include this piece. He has been very present throughout my career here at the COC and other places I've worked. I admire him and all the brilliant ideas he has. This show made me especially proud of how things worked out, given the challenges.

We had to make sure all the singers’ intricate wigs and makeup would last as the show required them to sing in a pool of water that had been installed in the orchestra pit! The icing on the

cake for that show was that we got to take it to the Brooklyn Academy of Music and show off this spectacle to an even broader audience."

Macbeth

"This opera is such a powerful piece. And working with Sir David McVicar keeps you even more on your toes than usual. At the time we staged this, we were just emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant plenty of cast changes and plenty of hair and makeup looks to create, making this show a huge challenge. Navigating the inevitable bloodbath on-stage with the costume department was fun as well. Despite having all these things to bring to life and organize, I really felt that I nailed it on this complicated show. I also have to say that Quinn Kelsey is a real gem of a human being. Working with him on this opera and the various other shows he’s been here for has been amazing."

Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White

"This was one of the most recent operas I've brought to life, and this time it was a brand-new piece with so many challenges. This was such a collaborative piece and I really thrive in that kind of process. I knew when I saw there was a hairdressing chair as the main focus on the stage, my work would be very important in this piece about Black culture. As we find our way to tell new stories, I also learned new ways of doing my work to make this opera successful in my department."

BONUS Pick! Centre Stage and The Ensemble Studio Competition

"Although it’s not a specific opera, I have enjoyed working on our Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition every year. It’s wonderful seeing young singers get their chance to shine. I’ve found that in helping to give them a polished look before they head on stage, it helps to give them an extra hit of confidence to as they step onto our opera stage to sing, accompanied by a full orchestra, for the very first time. I did the winner’s hair and makeup for three years running, so I used to joke that they clearly won because of that! Over the years, I've seen so many of them bloom into international singers and it makes me very proud to be a part of their growth."

Photo Credits

Sharon Ryman demonstrating her work with soprano Tracy Cantin at a COC members event (photo: COC staff); Adrianne Pieczonka as Tosca and Markus Marquardt as Scarpia in the COC's 2017 production of Tosca (photo by: Michael Cooper); Mark Johnson as the Psychiatrist and Krisztina Szabó as the Woman in the COC's 2015 production of Erwartung (photo by Michael Cooper); Santiago Ballerini as Count Almaviva in the COC's 2020 production of The Barber of Seville (photo by: Michael Cooper); a scene from the COC's production of Cosi fan tutte (photo by Gary Beechey); Gerald Finley as Sir John Falstaff in the COC's 2014 production of Falstaff (photo by: Michael Cooper); a scene from the COC's 2008 production of War and Peace (photo by: Michael Cooper); Joyce El-Khoury as Tatyana and Gordon Bintner as Eugene Onegin in the COC's 2018 production of Eugene Onegin (photo by: Michael Cooper); Jane Archibald as the Nightingale, Oleg Tsibulko as the Emperor (centre) and Lindsay Ammann as Death in the COC's 2018 production of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables (photo by: Michael Cooper); Quinn Kelsey as Macbeth in the COC's 2023 new production of Macbeth (photo by: Michael Cooper); Neema Bickersteth as Portia Body, Adrienne Danrich as Portia Spirit, and SATE as Portia Soul in the Canadian Opera Company’s world premiere production of Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White, 2024 (photo by Michael Cooper); Ensemble Studio Competition First Prize and Audience Choice Award winner mezzo-soprano Simona Genga with finalists of the 2017 Ensemble Studio Competition and COC Music Director Johannes Debus (photo by: Michael Cooper).