Her dramatic, silken amber voice improved on another movie title song with “Singin’ in the Rain” but the added surprise of Puccini’s aria “Un Bel Di” from Madame Butterfly was a revelation. Her song-ending, scalp-tingling, opera-owning high notes were enough, sans staging or supertitles, to convince anyone of her bright future.

Opera singer Vanessa Thomas … was introduced and quickly captured the audience with her deep, jazzy version of “Singing in the Rain.” Her rich, low voice could bend around the notes, rising to a squeal equal to the sound of Doc’s trumpet.

Thomas has a rich voice, able to dig deep into the darkest corners of heartbreak and high into the hidden comers of the soul, always floating on a perfect vibrato with enough power to make the horns work just a little harder to keep up with her.