15 students performed hilarious, heart-felt, and powerful songs at their first opera workshop in two years.
The student vocalists performed famous comedic-romantic scenes from several popular operas last weekend in the “Love and Laughter” opera workshop in Plaster Auditorium.
They performed scenes from famous operas such as Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” Donizetti’s “The Daughter of the Regiment,” Sullivan’s “The Mikado,” Delibes’ “Lakme,” Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea,” among others.
The music department continued a long-standing tradition to perform scenes from famous operas every other semester. Next semester the vocalists will perform a full-length opera.
The performances ranged from a countess attempting to catch her husband in the act of his infidelity in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro,” to two fairytale princes singing of the woes of their princesses in Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”
Other scenes included a retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ “Hansel and Gretel,” where the young children are put to sleep by the fantastical Sandman, who puts people to sleep in German folktales and gives them sweet dreams, during their evening prayers in Humperdinck’s opera “Hansel and Gretel,” and another scene where a young princess picking flowers with her handmaid in Delibes’ “Lakmé.” The audience laughed and applauded at the retelling of these classic opera scenes.
Co-Director of “Love and Laughter” and adjunct music professor Kristen Matson said the department selected the scenes in the production because of their fit into the overall theme.
“The scenes were chosen because they fit into our theme of love and laughter and also because many of them contained well-known melodies,” Matson said.
Matson said more than just opera enthusiasts could enjoy the show.
“Opera seems to be an intimidating, dark, angst-filled mystery for some people,” Matson said. “It is my hope that anyone who attended the show realized that opera can also be entertaining and joyful.”
Sophomore Luke Spangler, who attended the performance, said it enjoyably blended comedy and vocals.
“The students did a fabulous job,” he said. “Certain scenes were funny, like the scene with the pirates and another with the infidelious countess hiding her mister from her husband embraced the comedic romantic theme in the show. I thought it was the right mix of opera as a person who doesn’t normally enjoy opera.”
Actors performed many scenes in English, such as “Hm! Hm! Hm!” from “The Magic Flute” to make the performance more accessible to a general audience.
Co-Director of “Love and Laughter” and teacher of music Emily Douglass said the directors cast actors based on their vocal range and their experience.
“A voice is classified as dependent on range, resonance, timbre, agility, and lyricism,” Douglass said.
Junior Colton Duncan, who played Rapunzel’s Prince and Papageno, said it was an excellent opportunity to be creative with friends.
“A big influence, personally, was friends asking me to join the production,” Duncan said. “I rarely get to act out opera scenes and the small scene format works as a great opportunity to get a taste for what the real thing would be.”
Duncan said he enjoyed both of the scenes he acted out. While he appreciated the humorous approach he used to act out Rapunzel’s Prince in “Agony,” “Into the Woods” was his favorite because it was more demanding in terms of technique.
“Although I’m not a music minor or major, I can still have fun participating in the wide range of activities provided by the music department,” Duncan said. “A lot more goes into a small show than meets the eye. Everyone did a fantastic job.”