Metropolitan Opera Star Wendy White Suing Lincoln Center After 2011 Accident

According to the NY Daily News, a lawsuit has been filed by Metropolitan Opera star Wendy White against Lincoln Center because she is 'permanently injured' from a 2011 accident at Lincoln Center.

The opera star was injured during a production of Faust, when a trap door with 'faulty hingers' collapsed under the star, resulting in a bruised torso, and a permanently injuried diaphragm. Her lawyer, Edelman, said that "her diaphragm muscles are permanently injured," and that "White, 60, held off suing, hoping that physical therapy would get her back in shape. The lawyer said the Met's stage construction crews built a platform that was supported by thin metal hinges which are more often used to close wooden shutters."

She fell from a distance of about eight feet and a Met spokesman later said that a hinge connecting the platform to the stairway broke. Ten months later the New York Times reported that she had not recovered from her injuries, and felt abandoned by a company she considered family after the company canceled her contract.

Born in Chicago, White is a graduate of Wheaton College (1975, Bachelor of Music) and the Jacobs School of Music ofIndiana University (1978, Master of Music). She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1978. In 1979 she made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Smeraldina in Sergei Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges. She appeared in two more roles with the company that year: the Countess di Coigny in Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier and Giovanna in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto. She later returned to the Lyric Opera as the 3rd Lady in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute (1986), Siébel in Charles Gounod's Faust (1987), Charmian in Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra (1991), Susanna in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles (1995), and Suzuki in Giacomo Puccini'sMadama Butterfly (1997/1998).

In 1982 White portrayed the role of Colombina in Ferruccio Busoni's Harlequin at the Houston Grand Opera.In 1984 she performed the role of Valencienne in The Merry Widow with the Washington National Opera. In 1986 she made her debut at the New York City Opera as Charlotte in Jules Massenet's Werther with Jerry Hadley in the title role. That same year she performed the role of Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with the Fort Worth Opera. In 1987 she sang the title role in Georges Bizet's Carmen in Orange County, California under conductor Victor Borge. In 1990 she performed the role of Rosina in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Cincinnati Opera. In 1999 she made her debut at the San Francisco Opera as Suzuki to Sylvie Valayre's Cio-Cio San.

On October 16, 1989 White made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Flora in a new staging of Verdi's La traviata withEdita Gruberova as Violetta, Neil Shicoff as Alfredo, Wolfgang Brendel as Germont, and Carlos Kleiber conducting. She has continued to perform annually with the company since, portraying more than 40 roles for the Met. She has appeared on numerous Live from the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on PBS, including portraying the roles of Bersi in Andrea Chénier, Fenena in Nabucco, Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro, Margret in Wozzeck, Suzuki, and Tisbe in La Cenerentola for televised performances. Some of her other roles at the Met include Anna in Les troyens, Annina in Der Rosenkavalier, Baba the Turk in The Rake's Progress, Berta in The Barber of Seville, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Carmen, Cherubino in The Ghosts of Versailles, Death in The Nightingale, Emilia in Otello, Erda and Flosshilde in The Ring Cycle, Federica in Luisa Miller, Giovanna in Ernani, Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann, the Innkeeper in Boris Godunov, Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri, the Kitchen Boy in Rusalka, La Cieca in La Gioconda, Larina in Eugene Onegin, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, Maddalena, Magdalene in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Mary in The Flying Dutchman, the Monitor in Suor Angelica, the Mother in L'enfant et les sortilèges, and Mistress Quickly in Falstaff among others.

On the international stage, White has appeared with several major opera houses in Europe. In 1986 she sang the role of Dinah in Leonard Bernstein's A Quiet Place at the Vienna State Opera; a performance which was recorded for CD release by Deutsche Grammophon. She has also performed roles with the Hamburg State Opera, Opéra de Nice, and theThéâtre du Capitole.

White has also had an active career within the concert repertoire. In August 1987 she was the soloist in Bernstein'sJeremiah Symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival under the baton of the composer. In November 1990 she was the mezzo-soprano soloist in the world premiere of Ned Rorem's oratorioGoodbye, My Fancy with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Margaret Hillis. She has also sung in concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, theNetherlands Radio Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony among others.