Helen McDougal, Burke and Hare, Boston Lyric Opera

“Filling out the cast were Michelle Trainor and Heather Gallagher, who sang rich and glowing phrases as Burke and Hare’s companions, Helen McDougal and Margaret Hare respectively.”

“The evening’s most truly disturbing moment came when Burke and Hare’s ladies, both sung and acted to despicable, harpyish perfection by Michelle Trainor and Heather Gallagher, stripped off a trembling Slattery’s hat and jacket before his character’s (unstaged) murder.”  

“As viciously funny partners in crime, Margaret Hare (soprano Heather Gallagher) and Helen McDougal (soprano Michelle Trainor) exist in the musical realm of the lower-class musical hall and pantomime: their hysterical duets build tension and propel all of the other characters toward their tragic destinies.”

“Early on, the somewhat bumbling duo of Burke and Hare hatch the idea of the crime scheme with their partners, played by soprano Michelle Trainor (Helen McDougal) and mezzo-soprano Heather Gallagher (Mrs. Hare). Both Trainor and Gallagher are as convincing in operatic range as they are in their character’s glee. Both delivering a ‘devil may care’ fun in their rough body language with their partners, showing their greed as they envision what to buy with their expected new riches.”