This morning at Porter Square, none of the escalators were working. As I walked down the long staircase into the subway, I heard music. That is not unusual. We commuters often get to hear a busker or a group of musicians at Porter Square, some of them truly outstanding. Today as I descended I thought I heard opera.
It was indeed opera. Baritone Wesley Ray Thomas had set up his boom box and was performing “It Was You” from Verdi’s “Masked Ball.” When I say “performing,” I mean that not only was he singing beautifully but acting. Very emotional. I waited for a train to go by so I could hear the whole piece.
I asked for Thomas’s card, which gives his MySpace site, but when I poked around on YouTube, I found much more.
It turns out that not only is Thomas an opera singer, but being partly American Indian, he participates in the singing at PowWows and other traditional events.
I highly recommend this six-minute video. (The subway location shown is Porter Square.)
8/1/14 Update: Read new Globe story on what the opera guy has had to overcome in life, here.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
I love Wesley’s acting! We see a lot of performers on the New York subway, some are really good, but few can match Wesley in terms of originality!
One thing about the daily trudge to work — you never know what will happen on the way.
Porter Square has some very good acoustics! I heard that it’s the stop on the MBTA line that’s the deepest from entrance to bottom (the tall one tells me that Maverick is actually deeper underground).
I haven’t watched the video yet, but the singer *looks* magnificent just in the still. And what a wonderful thing to hear on your commute!
At Porter, we have had fantastic classical guitar, blues, and Klezmer. I am not wild about the hurdy-gurdy, but it is an intriguing curiosity.