Joaquin Romaguera

Joaquin Fidel Romaguera (September 5, 1932 – May 9, 2023) was an American tenor and actor born in Key West, Florida. He began his performing career at age 18 with the Miami Opera Company and went on to become a fixture of the New York City Opera for roughly two decades, from the late 1960s into the 1980s. His work spanned opera, musical theatre, and recordings, and he remained active on stage through 2000.

Romaguera's association with the New York City Opera produced some of his most significant artistic contributions. He created the role of The Dead Man in Hugo Weisgall's Nine Rivers from Jordan at the NYCO's world premiere in 1968, and in 1971 he originated the role of Professor Risselberg in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Most Important Man. His NYCO repertoire was extensive, encompassing Monostatos in Mozart's The Magic Flute (1969), Goro in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1969), the Village Drunk in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1970), the Chief Justice in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (1971 and 1974), Nathaniel in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann (1972), Little Bat in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (1972), Normanno in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (1974), Spoleta in Puccini's Tosca (1974), the Slave in Richard Strauss's Salome (1975), Dr. Blind in Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus (1975), the Emperor Altoum in Puccini's Turandot (1975 and 1977), Balthasar Zorn in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1975), Nereo in Boito's Mefistofele (1977), the Pony Express Rider in Puccini's La fanciulla del West (1977), and Pisoni in Wright and Forrest's Song of Norway (1981). In 1972 he recorded the role of Parpignol in Puccini's La bohème with the NYCO in a cast that included José Carreras as Rodolfo, Elisabeth Carron as Mimi, and Nancy Shade as Musetta.

Beyond the NYCO, Romaguera sang with several other opera organizations. In 1967 he portrayed Nicolas Orsini in the world premiere of Alberto Ginastera's Bomarzo with the Opera Society of Washington, a role he subsequently recorded on disc and repeated the following year at the NYCO. In 1969 he sang Cassio in Verdi's Otello with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf at the Tanglewood Music Festival, and that same year he performed the title role in the world premiere of Ashley Vernon's The Triumph of Punch at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 1982 he portrayed Captain Pirzel in the United States premiere of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten with conductor Sarah Caldwell and the Opera Company of Boston, and that year he also sang Emperor Altoum with the San Diego Opera. In 1991 he appeared as Goro in Madama Butterfly for the Baltimore Opera Company.

On Broadway, Romaguera originated the role of Adolfo Pirelli in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which opened in 1979. In 1987 he portrayed Teddy in an off-Broadway revival of Cole Porter's Gay Divorce at the Martin R. Kaufman Theatre, a performance that earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. Later that year and into 1988, he played the leading role of Robinet in the off-Broadway musical Mademoiselle Colombe at the Theatre Off Park. In 1994 he appeared as Mr. Lopez in Jerry Bock's Fiorello! for the inaugural Encores! series at New York City Center. His final stage performance came in 2000, when he played Magaldi in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita with Broadway Sacramento. In 2004 he directed a production of Fiddler on the Roof for Island Opera Theatre in the Florida Keys.

Romaguera's life partner, Broadway hair designer Robert W. Cybula, died in 2000. Romaguera spent his later years in retirement in Mount Dora, Florida, and died on May 9, 2023, at the age of 90.