Born and raised in Neptune Beach, Florida, John D. Smitherman now has made the world his home.  Smitherman moves freely between the worlds of Broadway, opera and symphony pops programs.  This past millennium, John was honored by being chosen as one of the original Three American Tenors, and with that came a whirlwind of performances and recordings.  Along with his more than 100 different roles on both the professional opera and musical theatre stages, John has the distinction of having performed the title role of Phantom in three different versions of the work (Webber, Yeston/Kopit, and Bell) as well as an award-winning performance as the title role(s) in Jekyll & Hyde.  Other favorite roles include Sid in The Pajama Game, Curly in Oklahoma!, Johnny Brown in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Tony in West Side Story, Danny Zuko in Grease, The Red Shadow in The Desert Song, Lt.Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Beppe in Pagliacci, Cassio in Otello, Rudolfo in La Boheme and the title role in The Student Prince.  In addition to performing as a headliner on cruises from New Zealand to Norway and solo concerts from Hawaii to Beverly Hills, John has also sung for presidents, ambassadors, and royalty and, early in his career, was a backup singer for Barry Manilow.  His CDs Live, By Popular Demand, and Opera Passion are available on his websites at www.AmericanTenor.net and JohnDSmitherman.com

Niffer Clarke, soprano

"A hissing opera diva who wields her coloratura as a weapon." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel),       "...The standout is Niffer Clarke, her performance a masterpiece." (onMilwaukee.com), "Special praise goes to the fine work of vocalist Niffer Clarke." (Boston Herald)          

Niffer Clarke has been performing onstage since she was 6 years old.  She is at home playing the ingenue, character, comedienne and leading lady, and has appeared in everything from straight plays to musical theatre to operetta and opera.  Niffer lives in New York and most recently appeared in Bells are Ringing at City Center Encores! (dir. Kathleen Marshall).  She has also been seen in the award-winning off-Broadway musical Adding Machine: A Musical and recently starred as Candida in a workshop of the new musical A Minister's Wife at Lincoln Center Theater.  Other New York credits include Garbo and Me (York Theatre), The Contents of Your Suitcase (Emerging Artists Theatre), Banjo Boys (New World Stages).  Favorite regional credits include Tintypes, Honk!, The Pirates of Penzance, Cyrano, A Little Night Music, She Loves Me and Street Scene.  Niffer's Film/TV credits include Meet the Robinsons (Walt Disney Pictures), Angel of Death (Discovery Channel), Michael Stahl-David: Behind the Star (Sony Pictures), Only Criminals (Fringecamp), as well as numerous commercials and industrials.  Recordings and Concerts include Meet the Robinsons soundtrack, Adding Machine: A Musical (PS Classics), A Night at the Oscars with Shirley Jones and the Hollywood Concert Orchestra (soprano soloist), London Symphony Orchestra Tribute to Leonard Bernstein, her solo concert Beyond the Ingenue and with the band They Might Be Giants.  Her CD, Beyond the Ingenue is available on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon and on her website at www.NifferClarke.com.