Metropolitan Opera singer Ryan Speedo Green introduces himself to the wards of Juvenile Hall Thursday. Green spent time in custody as a child and hopes his performance will spark motivation in the kids. (Photo Credit: Dan Coyro -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)
By Michael Todd, Santa Cruz Sentinel
FELTON >> Little rumors can render big problems.
As they spread, they can devastate reputations, bass-baritone opera singer Ryan Speedo Green said before his performance of an aria from Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” Thursday to a group of 10 boys held at Santa Cruz County’s Juvenile Hall at Graham Hill Road in Felton. The aria, which is a portion of the opera, is about a man who likes to start rumors. Green, who lives in Vienna, Austria and performs regularly at The Metropolitan Opera in New York, spent years refining his skills, and reputation, as a professional singer.
He was raised by a single mother and had problems with loss and anger, which led to his confinement in juvenile detention in Virginia. Thursday was the 30-year-old’s second performance at a juvenile-detention center.
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