Frank Porretta Jr. (May 4, 1930, Detroit – April 23, 2015, Stamford, Connecticut) was an American tenor who had an active career performing in operas, musicals, and concerts from 1952 through 1971.
He entered the University of Michigan (UM) as a pre-med major but transferred to the music school during his sophomore year to pursue studies in vocal performance.
In 1954 he won the Grinnell Foundation–Detroit Grand Opera Association scholarship which provided him with the financial support he needed to pursue vocal studies with Eleanor McLellan in New York City.
[4] He remained a regular performer with the NYCO for the next fourteen years, performing such roles as Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Alfredo in La traviata, Apollo in L'Orfeo, Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio,[5] the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Edgar Linton in Wuthering Heights,[6] Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, Lucentio in Vittorio Giannini's The Taming of the Shrew,[7] Jolidon in The Merry Widow, Luigi in Il tabarro, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S.
Pinafore, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Sam Kaplan in Street Scene, the Sleepwalker in Louise, Steve in The Cradle Will Rock, and Vladimir in Prince Igor among others.
He also created roles in several world premieres at the NYCO, including Bezano in Robert Ward's He Who Gets Slapped, the English sentry in Norman Dello Joio's The Triumph of St. Joan,[8] Florindo in Giannini's The Servant of Two Masters, and Lucas Wardlaw in Floyd's The Passion of Jonathan Wade.
[17] In 1970 he portrayed Jimmy Mahogonny in the United States premiere of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Phyllis Anderson Theatre in New York.
[23] In 1962 he sang the title role in a concert performance of Rossini's Le comte Ory with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Thomas Schippers at Carnegie Hall.
[24] Another highlight of his concert work was singing Jaquino in Beethoven's Fidelio under the baton of Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
[25] He occasionally would still perform in local theater events in Darien, including playing Fredrik Egerman in a production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music in 1980.