Jordan Loyd and Kaylee Nichols had a comic field day with their appearances as, respectively, the Gamekeeper and Kitchen Girl. ...Ms. Nichols’ luxuriant, pliable mezzo was a treat to savor. The director seemed to have momentarily suspended the somber atmosphere of the asylum to allow these two gifted performers to take us away from all that with some uninhibited and inspired looney toons.
OPERA TODAY
Kitchen Girl | Rusalka | Santa Fe Opera
Jordan Loyd (tenor) and Kaylee Nichols (mezzo-soprano) made something memorable and highly amusing out of the gamekeeper and kitchen girl, thanks to their own performance skills, Pountney’s directorial invention and Marie-Jeanne Lecca’s whimsical, wacky costumes and wigs.
Their long scene at the beginning of the second act is sometimes cut — it can seem interminable in realistically staged productions — but here it was a comedy triumph, enlivened by lots of feather plucking and meat-cleaver action on the fowl being prepared for the party guests.
SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN
Kitchen Girl | Rusalka | Santa Fe Opera
"The comprimario roles were all assigned to Santa Fe Apprentice Singers, and they collectively performed efficiently with their vocalism and considerable acting, from Jordan Loyd and Kaylee Nichols’ highly comedic takes on the Gamekeeper and the Kitchen Girl, Ilanah Lobel-Torres, Lydia Grindatto and Meridian Prall’s playful scenes as the Wood Sprites, to Spencer Reichman’s ringing Hunter."
PARTERRE BOX
Kitchen Girl | Rusalka | Santa Fe Opera
Three more 2023 Santa Fe Opera Apprentices completed the cast. The little comic relief afforded in the telling of “Rusalka’s” dark story is provided by the gossipy Gamekeeper, humorously performed by Ohio tenor Jordan Loyd and his character’s niece, the Kitchen Girl, sung by Ohio mezzo-soprano Kaylee Nichols.
OPERA WARHORSES
Kitchen Girl | Rusalka | Santa Fe Opera
The absurd duo of tenor Jordan Lloyd’s Gamekeeper and mezzo Kaylee Nichols’ Kitchen Girl nearly stole the show with their comic scenes.
THE CLASSICAL REVIEW
Kitchen Girl | Rusalka | Santa Fe Opera
Some of the most impressive singing comes from company apprentices in smaller roles: Jordan Lloyd as the Gamekeeper; Kaylee Nichols as the Kitchen Girl;
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Kitchen Girl | Rusalka | Santa Fe Opera
"In a scaled-down work like this, with only a handful of characters, a single set, and relatively little grand spectacle to fall back on, it’s even more important than usual to have a solid cast to carry the weight of the drama, which was certainly the case for the Nashville Opera’s production. Joseph Mobley’s wordless performance as Toby made quite the impression, while Helen Zhibing Huang as Monica and Kaylee Nichols as Mrs. Nolan gave especially affecting performances."
MUSIC CITY REVIEW
Mrs. Nolan | The Medium | Nashville Opera
"...while Kaylee Nichols’s voice as Mrs. Grose filled the small theatre to overflowing with sound and clear diction.
...Muttered tales of his felonious behavior (“Quint was free with everyone… with little master Miles… he liked them pretty and he had his will, morning and night”) set up an impactful full entrance of the character after the first sightings. The explosion of sound emanating from Mrs. Grose, wailing “Dear God” when The Governess first describes the face of the ghost, is a memory that will remain in the brains of the audience for no short amount of time."
MUSIC CITY REVIEW
Mrs. Grose | Turn of the Screw | Nashville Opera
"Rounding out the cast is Kaylee Nichols as Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper at Bly. More than that, though, she is the keeper of secrets with full knowledge of what has happened in the house’s past. It is Grose who is able to end the horrors that persist in the house and Nichols plays her with a guarded intensity. She is afraid of what she knows, of what she has seen. Nichols’ mezzo-soprano voice manages to pierce through in the larger group moments with contrapuntal musical lines coming from every direction. It’s wonderful to see her versatility, having last played the Mother in Amahl at Christmas."
OUT & ABOUT NASHVILLE
Mrs. Grose | Turn of the Screw | Nashville Opera
"Kaylee Nichols as the mother wears her sadness, frustration, and desperation on her sleeve. There’s no hiding how very close to having nothing they are and it’s by her choices that the story reaches its tumultuous conclusion."
OUT & ABOUT NASHVILLE
Mother | Amahl & The Night Visitors | Nashville Opera
"Gallagher [Nichols] gives a stellar performance, playing Jo—the most ambitious of the four sisters—with ease, giving a voice to both the trials and successes of herself and her sisters."
MCGILL TRIBUNE
Jo March | Little Women | Opera McGill
"Featuring Kaylee Gallagher [Nichols] as Jo, she was energetic and tomboyish in a way that you would expect, and fulfilled what most would consider a demanding role, being onstage for almost the entire production."
MONTREAL RAMPAGNE
Jo March | Little Women | Opera McGill