Jack Waddell, a former opera singer who became a beloved and revered vocal coach for such Broadway stars as Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessica Vosk and Brandon Victor Dixon, died January 1 at his home in Bloomington, Illinois, under the care of friends. He was 83.
His passing was announced by students Dixon, Vosk and Owen Rozanski. A cause of death was not immediately available.
Born John A. Waddell on March 31, 1941, in Bloomington, Illinois, Waddell enjoyed a decades-long career in music, and was honored by the American Theatre Wing as an “Unsung Hero of Broadway” in 2023. At the organization’s gala that year, he was introduced by Dixon.
Waddell had studied voice at Illinois Wesleyan University where, upon graduating in 1963, he set his sights on the opera stages of New York City.
Finding few opportunities in opera for Black performers, Waddell moved to West Germany, where he became a trailblazer in his field for people of color, captivating audiences with his technical accomplishment and emotional depth.
In addition to appearing in European productions of such operas as Don Carlos, he would often cross over to musical theater (in a 1968 Munich production of Hair, he shared the stage with an unknown Donna Summer).
Fluent in several languages, most notably German and Italian, Waddell enjoyed a successful and prolific opera, concert and TV career in West Germany before returning to the United States in the 1980s.
Back in New York City, he would become a vocal coach and mentor to a roster of both established and soon-to-be Broadway stars. In addition to Ragtime‘s Mitchell, and Hell’s Kitchen‘s Vosk and Dixon, Waddell’s long list of client-students included Robert Fowler (The Producers), Felicia P. Fields (The Color Purple), Angela Robinson (Dreamgirls) and Soara-Joye Ross (Hadestown).
In 2023, Waddell was honored by the American Theatre Wing, copresenter of the Tonys, with the organization’s annual award for “Unsung Hero of Broadway” at the Wing’s gala.
Celebrations of Waddell’s life will be held in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois; New York City; and Hamburg, Germany at dates to be announced.
