Paulo Szot

Paulo Szot is a Brazilian operatic baritone singer and actor. He made his opera debut in 1997 and his international career has included performances with the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala di Milano, Opera de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Australia, Liceo de Barcelona, among many others.

In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque, reprising the roles in 2022 and 2026, in a revival of South Pacific, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Theatre World Award. In 2012 he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for best actor in a musical, and in 2014 was nominated for the MAC Award for best Celebrity Artist becoming the first Brazilian to receive such honors. His other stage credits include portraying the role of Juan Perón in the Sydney Opera House production of Evita, starring as Billy Flynn in the 2020/2021 cast of Broadway’s Chicago, and originating the role of Lance in the hit Broadway musical & Juliet. He starred in the London premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Here We Are in 2025 and later that year starred as Hades in the Broadway cast of Hadestown.

Biography Szot was born in São Paulo to Polish parents who emigrated to Brazil after World War II.

Szot studied at Jagiellonian University in Poland. He began singing professionally in 1990 with the National Song & Dance Ensemble "Śląsk". Later, he made his professional opera debut in a production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Municipal Theatre of São Paulo in 1997. Since then, he has performed with the New York City Opera, the Palm Beach Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Marseille, and Vlaamse Opera, among others, in such operas as L'elisir d'amore, La bohème, Don Giovanni, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Carmen, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Maria Golovin. In March 2010 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Kovalyov in Dmitri Shostakovich's The Nose. Szot returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Escamillo sharing the stage with the French tenor Roberto Alagna and as Lescaut in Manon along with Anna Netrebko. Szot returned to the Met in 2014 as the Captain of the Achille Lauro in The Death of Klinghoffer. He sang the role of Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Palais Garnier, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in Le nozze di Figaro. In 2013 he sang in The Nose at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and at La Scala in the role of Filip Filippovich, the protagonist of Alexander Raskatov's 2009 opera A Dog's Heart. In 2018 and 2019, Szot sang the role of the Celebrant in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass under the direction of Marin Alsop with the Chicago Children's Choir and the Highland Park High School Marching Band.

Of his performance in South Pacific, Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote: "When he delivers 'Some Enchanted Evening' or 'This Nearly Was Mine,' it's not as a swoon-making blockbuster (though of course it is), but as a measured and honest consideration of love."

Personal life Brazilian singer and actor Paulo Szot is openly gay.

Stage productions

National Song and Dance Ensemble Slask - from 1989 - 1995 - Koszecin, Poland Il Barbiere di Siviglia – 1996 – Teatro Paulo Eiró, São Paulo Gianni Scchicchi – 1997 – Sesc Ipiranga, São Paulo La Bohème – 1998 – Teatro Alfa Real, São Paulo Le Barbier de Séville – 1997 – Teatro Municipal de Santo André Carmen – 1998 – Teatro Municipal de São Paulo La Bohème – 1998 – Teatro Municipal de São Paulo L'elisir d'amore – 1998 – Festival Ópera de Manaus Don Giovanni – 1999 – Teatro Alfa Real, São Paulo Le Barbier de Séville – 1999 – Teatro São Pedro, São Paulo Don Giovanni – 1999 – Municipal de São Paulo Le Barbier de Séville – 1999 – Teatro São Pedro de Porto Alegre O Guarani – 1999 – Teatro Amazonas Carmen – 2000 – Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro Cavaleria Rusticana – 2000 – Teatro Alfa Real, São Paulo I Pagliacci – 2000 – Teatro Alfa Real, São Paulo Die Fledermaus – 2000 – Teatro Rio de Janeiro Cavaleria Rusticana – 2000 – Teatro Municipal de São Paulo Pagliacci – 2000 – Teatro Municipal de São Paulo Tannhäuser – 2001 – Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro Carmen – 2001 – Teatro Alfa, São Paulo Carmen – 2001 – Teatro Municipal de São Paulo Don Giovanni – 2001 – Teatro Amazonas La Bohème – 2001 – Teatro Amazonas Hansel et Gretel – 2001 – Teatro Municipal de São Paulo Manon – 2002 – Teatro Amazonas Manon – 2002 – Teatro Alfa – São Paulo Pagliacci – 2002 – Teatro Amazonas Il Barbiere di Siviglia - 2003 - Palácio das Artes Hansel et Gretel – 2003 – Teatro Municipal de São Paulo Cavaleria Rusticana – 2003 – Teatro Amazonas Don Pasquale – 2003 – Teatro São Pedro, São Paulo Don Pasquale – 2003 – Teatro Municipal de Santo André Lustige Witwe – 2003 – Porto Alegre Carmen – 2003 – New York City Opera Don Giovanni – 2003 – Michigan Opera Le Nozze di Figaro – 2004 – New York City Opera Carmen – 2004 – Palm Beach Opera Eugène Onegin – 2004 – Ópera de Marseille Orfeo – 2004 – Teatro Sérgio Cardoso L'elisir d'amore – 2005 – New York City Opera Rita – 2005 – Festival de Campos do Jordão Dido et Aeneas – 2005 – Opera de Marseille Don Giovanni – 2005 – Opera de Toulon Don Giovanni – 2005 – Opera de Bordeaux Così fan tutte – 2006 – Opera de Marseille Maria Golovin – 2006 – Opera de Marseille Don Giovanni – 2006 – Opera de Bogota - Colombia Così fan tutte – 2007 – Opera de Nice Le nozze di Figaro – 2007 – Boston Maria Golovin – Spoleto Opera Festival, 2007 - Italy Le Portrait de Manon – 2007 – Liceo de Barcelona Le Nozze di Figaro – 2007 – Vlaamse Opera, Anvers Le Nozze di Figaro – 2008 – Vlaamse Opera, Gand South Pacific – 2008 – Lincoln Center Theater, New York - Emile de Becque La Veuve Joyeuse – 2008 – Opera de Marseille South Pacific – 2009 – Lincoln Center Theater, New York - Emile de Becque The Nose – 2010 – Metropolitan Opera New York South Pacific – 2010 – Lincoln Center Theater, New York - Emile de Becque Carmen – 2011 – Metropolitan Opera New York Così fan tutte – 2011 – Opera Garnier, Paris South Pacific – 2011 – Barbican, London - Emile de Becque Carmen – 2011 – San Francisco Opera South Pacific – 2011 – Oxford - Emile de Becque Manon – 2012 – Metropolitan Opera House New York Le Nozze di Figaro – 2012 – Festival d'Aix-en-Provence Don Giovanni – 2012 – Washington Opera The Nose - Il Naso – 2013 – Opera di Roma A Dog's Heart - Cuore di Cane – 2013 – La Scala The Nose – 2013 – Metropolitan Opera Die Fledermaus - 2013/2014 – Metropolitan Opera Eugène Onegin - 2014 - Melbourne Opera House Candide — 2014 — Sala São Paulo - OSESP The Death of Klinghoffer – 2014 – Metropolitan Opera Le Nozze di Figaro – 2014 - Théâtre National de Bahreïn / Aix-en-Provence Manon Lescaut - Teatro Municipal de Sao Paulo - Lescaut - 2015 Die Fledermaus - The Metropolitan Opera - 2015/2016 - Falke Madama Butterfly - Opera de Marseille - 2016 - Sharpless Romeo et Juliette - Palácio das Artes - 2016 - Mercutio My Fair Lady - Teatro Santander - 2016 - Henry Higgins Così fan tutte - "Don Alfonso" - 2017 - Palais Garnier Opéra National de Paris The New Prince - 2017 - Dutch Opera - Hamilton/Clinton/Nixon - Amsterdam - Nederlands Carmen - Bayerische Staatsoper - Munich - Escamillo - 2017 - Germany Evita - Shakespeare Festival - Pennsylvania - Juan Peron - 2017 - USA Street Scene - Teatro Real - Madri - 2018 - Frank Maurant La Traviata - Palácio das Artes - BH - 2018 - Giorgio Germont La Traviata - Teatro Municipal de Sao Paulo - 2018 - G. Germont Mass - Leonard Bernstein - South Bank Centre - 2018 - Celebrant - London Mass - Leonard Bernstein - Ravinia Festival - 2018 - Celebrant - USA Evita - A. Lloyd Webber - Opera Australia - Sydney and Melbourne - 2018/2019 - Juan Peron Merry Widow - Franz Lehar - Opera di Roma - 2019 - Danilo Mass - Leonard Bernstein - Ravinia Festival - 2019 - Celebrant - USA Madama Butterfly - Puccini - Metropolitan Opera - New York - 2019 - Sharpless Chicago - Ambassador Theater, Broadway - New York - 2020 and 2021 - Billy Flynn (singing. English) Street Scene - Opera de Monte Carlo - 2020 - Frank Chicago - Teatro Santander - São Paulo - 2022 - Billy Flynn (singing in Brazilian) La boheme - Puerto Rico - 2022 - Marcello & Juliet - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto - 2022 - Lance & Juliet - Sondheim Theater - Broadway - 2023–2026 - Lance Simon Boccanegra - Amazon Opera Festival - 2024 - Simon Boccanegra Cosi fan tutte - Opera de Paris - 2024 - Don Alfonso South Pacific in Concert - Lincoln Centre - 2024 - Émile de Becque Otello - Puerto Rico Symphony / Culturarte - 2025 - Iago Carmen - Detroit Symphony Orchestra - 2025 - Escamillo Here We Are - National Theatre - 2025 Evita - The Muny - 2025 - Juan Peron Hadestown - Broadway - 2025 - Hades The Light in the Piazza - Signor Naccarelli - Opera Theatre of St. Louis Don Carlo - Rodrigo - Theatro Municipal de São Paulo South Pacific - The Muny - 2026 - Emile de Becque & Juliet - Lance - Broadway - Summer 2026 Limited Engagement Man of La Mancha - Don Quixote - Arizona Music Festival - 2026

Awards

Year Award Category Work Result 2000 Prêmio Carlos Gomes Best Opera Singer Male Category 2008 Drama League Awards Distinguished Performance Award South Pacific Theare World Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical Tony Awards Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Joan & Joseph F. Cullman Award Extraordinary Creativity 2008 Polish Ministry of Culture Bronze Medal “Gloria Artis for Merit to Culture” Life Achievement 2009 Premio Faz Diferença Jornal O Globo Segundo Caderno/Musica 2011 Dallas Opera Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Don Giovanni 2012 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Actor in a Musical South Pacific 2014 MAC Awards Best Celebrity Artist 2016 The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award Personal Excellence in use of the Human Voice Life achievement