Nolen made his debut at the San Francisco Opera as the Officer in the United States premiere of Darius Milhaud's Christophe Colomb on October 5, 1968.
He appeared in several supporting roles with the company through 1973, including Gregorio in Roméo et Juliette, Marullo in Rigoletto, Montano in Otello, Morales in Carmen, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes, Schaunard in La Bohème, Sciarrone in Tosca, and the Wigmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos among others.
[3] Nolen made his Broadway debut in 1985 as Doyle in the original production of Larry Grossman's Grind; a portrayal for which he received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical nomination.
In 2004, he returned to the title role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the New York City Opera opposite Elaine Paige as Mrs. Lovett.
He has since returned to that house as Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow (2000–2001, with Plácido Domingo as Count Danilovich) and the One-Eyed Man in Die Frau ohne Schatten (2001–2002, with Deborah Voigt as the Empress).