Lucas Bouk

American opera singer

Lucas Bouk is an American opera singer and actor from Rochester, New York.[1] He[a] came out in 2018 as a trans man, and played his first role as an openly trans man in a jazz opera character written with him in mind. A play about his transitioning was staged in 2018, and revived in 2019. In June 2019, he became the first openly transgender opera singer in a featured role written for a transgender singer in Stonewall.[2]

## Education and personal life

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Lucas Bouk grew up in Rochester, New York in a conservative environment, with "misunderstanding, misattunement, and pain" from his conflicted gender identity.[1] He married his high school sweetheart when they were both 21.[1]

Bouk studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.[1] After graduate school Bouk and his husband had a child together.[1] The pregnancy and birth were extremely difficult for Bouk: "I felt drowned and suffocated by cisgender parenting expectations. My son's existence wasn't the problem, it was all the social norms and expectations surrounding the idea of being a mother that plagued me with anxiety and anger."[1] Bouk initially thought his anger towards casual sexual harassment and the word "mother" was due to being a "staunch feminist"; later the family would stop celebrating gendered holidays.[1]

In 2014, Bouk made the decision to resign from his job and seek personal growth and professional advancement by relocating to Manhattan.[1] Concurrently, he began engaging in yoga and participating in dance classes as a means to enhance his physical well-being and promote self-acceptance.

In September 2017, Bouk began to self-identify as a transgender man and came out to his husband, who was supportive.[1]

In October 2018, Bouk took part in Bumble's worldwide campaign about New Yorkers "discussing their lives and loves."[3]

Bouk began transitioning physically with testosterone and retraining as a baritone in 2021, stating that COVID-19 lockdowns gave him time to retrain that he had previously believed he would not have.[4] [5]

## Career

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Before coming out, Bouk sang a series of cabaret evenings featuring famous songs for female characters, by Stephen Sondheim, Kurt Weill, Jason Robert Brown, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Rodgers & Hammerstein, to "become comfortable inhabiting female characters onstage that I might be able to feel more confident in my body in my actual life".[6] Later he focused on female opera characters, “trapped by circumstance, society and gender”.[6]

In May 2018, as part of New York's 2018 Opera Fest, he came out publicly as a trans man in a new opera, Tabula Rasa, a jazz-inspired work presented by the Cantanti Project,[7] with music by gay composer Felix Jarrar and libretto by Bea Goodwin.[1] The role of dadaist Tristan Tzara was created for Bouk so he could "publicly express [his] new gender identity".[1] It was Bouk's first male role since coming out.[1][8]

In November 2018, Bouk and Goodwin presented “Mr. Liz Cabaret: Living in the In Between," a coming of age story and cabaret about Bouk’s coming out process, at Alchemical Studio Lab.[9] For the one-man show they used his journal entries, photos, paintings, and memories.[9] It includes painful episodes of being misgendered.[6] The show returned in February 2019 at New York City’s The Tank.

Following his one-man show, he did the transgender-themed As One at Alamo City Opera.[10] As One is a newer opera which has already been performed around the world, telling the story with two characters, Hannah Before and Hannah After, who share insights into the transitioning experience.[11] Bouk portrayed Hannah After.[11]

He then performed in Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi at St. Petersburg Opera.[10] In May/June 2019 he reprised his role as Hannah Before in As One at Merkin Concert Hall for American Opera Projects and New York City Opera.[12]

In June 2019, Bouk played a featured character in Stonewall, an opera about the 1969 Stonewall riots which had its world premiere in conjunction with Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019.[13] Stonewall was commissioned by New York City Opera (NYCO), and features music by Iain Bell, a libretto by Mark Campbell, and direction by Leonard Foglia.[2] Stonewall is the first opera to feature a transgender character written for a transgender singer.[2] Bouk portrays Sarah, a trans woman celebrating the first anniversary of her transitioning.[14]

Since August 2021, he has been performing as a baritone, including roles such as Masetto and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Schaunard in La bohème, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte.[4] He also played the role of Hannah Before in As One in 2022 and 2023, making him the first person to portray both Hannah Before and Hannah After in As One.[4]

## See also

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* Castrato
* Cross-gender acting
* Feminist views on transgender topics
* List of historical opera characters
* List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender firsts by year
* Non-binary gender
* Transgender history
* Transgender rights in the United States

## Notes

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1. ^ Bouk uses he/him and they/them pronouns. This article uses he/him pronouns for consistency.

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gunz, Rafaella (2018-04-28). "Meet Liz Bouk, the opera singer who recently came out as a trans man". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
2. ^ a b c Gans, Andrew (Feb 19, 2019). "Cast Set for World Premiere of New Opera Stonewall". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
3. ^ Jardine, Alexandra (8 October 2018). "Transgender opera singer Liz Bouk opens up on life and love in Bumble's New York campaign". adage.com. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
4. ^ a b c "About". LucasBouk.com.
5. ^ Elliott, Tamzin (12 December 2023). "For the Love of Opera: Trans Singers on Their Struggle and Work". San Francisco Classical Voice.
6. ^ a b c "Trans opera singer Liz Bouk presents Mr. Liz Cabaret: Living in the In Between". Gay Star News. 2018-11-10. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
7. ^ Martell, Logan (2018-05-12). "New York Opera Fest 2018 Review – Tabula Rasa: Jarrar-Goodwin Team Transcends Genre with New Work". Retrieved 2019-05-30.
8. ^ "Q & A: Liz Bouk & Bea Goodwin On Revealing The Journey Of 'Mr. Liz'". 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
9. ^ a b "Bea Goodwin & Liz Bouk Team Up For 'One [wo] Man Show'". 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
10. ^ a b "Liz Bouk To Present 'New Beginnings' In NYC". 2019-03-25. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
11. ^ a b Hendricks, David (2019-01-20). "Review: Alamo City Opera breaks ground with transgender-themed work". Mysa. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
12. ^ Busey, Kelli (2019-01-20). "Trans Man sings MTF role in Alamo City Opera 'AS ONE'". Planet Transgender. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
13. ^ Leonhardt, Andrea (2019-04-30). "Whoopi Goldberg, Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan to Kick off WorldPride..." BK Reader. Archived from the original on 2020-06-01. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
14. ^ McPhee, Ryan (March 18, 2019). "Watch a Sneak Peek of New York City Opera's Stonewall". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-05-30.