2008 Woodie Awards
Multiple scenes, performers take the stage
Show focuses on students, not costumes, sets
Melissa Crowe and Betsy Stelzer
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: ARTS
Even the pickiest critics will enjoy a taste of NT Opera's production "Opera Without Elephants."
A culmination of seven opera scenes and a full length opera crammed into two nights of performance will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Murchison's Lyric Theater. Admission is free.
Friday, the NT Opera will present scenes from Wolfgang Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmélites," Carlisle Floyd's "Cold Sassy Tree" and Gaetano Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore."
Saturday night's performance will include scenes from Stephen Paulus' "The Postman Always Rings Twice," Gaetano Donizetti's "Anna Bolen"a and Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte."
Giacomo Puccini's one-act opera "Suor Angelica" will be performed both evenings.
Set in a cloistered convent in Italy in the late 1600s, the plot revolves around Suor Angelica, a woman who has brought shame to her family and has been living in the convent for several years because of the incident.
"This is something we've been doing since I came here in 1992," said Paula Homer, director of opera at NT. "Other universities call them scene programs - I call it opera without elephants because we aren't trying to support the production with costumes, scenery and orchestra."
Even the accompaniment is minimalist, Plano sophomore Mary Crocker said. Each of the seven scenes is accompanied with only piano, and "Suor Angelica" has a small instrumental ensemble.
With scenes spanning more than 200 years, Mesquite senior Justin Lott said, "You're going to get the romantic, you're going to get the classical, you're going to get the modern opera, you'll get drama, you'll get comedy. This is going to be a great program, whether you're a very seasoned opera person or whether it's your first one to come to."
McKinney senior Katrina Bishop described the performance as a "melting pot."
"There's something for everybody in there," she said.
In the midst of a cast of about 50 students, Lott said, "it's a way for undergraduates who don't always get cast in the main stage shows, like 'Romeo and Juliet,' to get some experience and exposure to the art and performing."
While undergraduate students have a chance to experience the art of opera performance, Rebecca Beasley, Conroy Cupido, Kathryn Frady, Jay Gardner, Gus Mercante, Hector Niño, Helen Dewey Reikofski and SarahAnn Sutter, all graduate students, have an opportunity to do behind the scenes work and direct, Lott said.
"For the average person who's just been turned on to opera, it's a good way to get a very overall, big picture," he said. "You get a little taste of everything. In a way it's like a bunch of short plays together."
Homer said the array of singers at NT deserves and needs stage experience.
"When people think of grand opera, they think of the elephants crossing the stage in 'Aieda,'" she said. "Our focus is less on the spectacle and more on the story, the characters and the singing."
A culmination of seven opera scenes and a full length opera crammed into two nights of performance will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Murchison's Lyric Theater. Admission is free.
Friday, the NT Opera will present scenes from Wolfgang Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmélites," Carlisle Floyd's "Cold Sassy Tree" and Gaetano Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore."
Saturday night's performance will include scenes from Stephen Paulus' "The Postman Always Rings Twice," Gaetano Donizetti's "Anna Bolen"a and Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte."
Giacomo Puccini's one-act opera "Suor Angelica" will be performed both evenings.
Set in a cloistered convent in Italy in the late 1600s, the plot revolves around Suor Angelica, a woman who has brought shame to her family and has been living in the convent for several years because of the incident.
"This is something we've been doing since I came here in 1992," said Paula Homer, director of opera at NT. "Other universities call them scene programs - I call it opera without elephants because we aren't trying to support the production with costumes, scenery and orchestra."
Even the accompaniment is minimalist, Plano sophomore Mary Crocker said. Each of the seven scenes is accompanied with only piano, and "Suor Angelica" has a small instrumental ensemble.
With scenes spanning more than 200 years, Mesquite senior Justin Lott said, "You're going to get the romantic, you're going to get the classical, you're going to get the modern opera, you'll get drama, you'll get comedy. This is going to be a great program, whether you're a very seasoned opera person or whether it's your first one to come to."
McKinney senior Katrina Bishop described the performance as a "melting pot."
"There's something for everybody in there," she said.
In the midst of a cast of about 50 students, Lott said, "it's a way for undergraduates who don't always get cast in the main stage shows, like 'Romeo and Juliet,' to get some experience and exposure to the art and performing."
While undergraduate students have a chance to experience the art of opera performance, Rebecca Beasley, Conroy Cupido, Kathryn Frady, Jay Gardner, Gus Mercante, Hector Niño, Helen Dewey Reikofski and SarahAnn Sutter, all graduate students, have an opportunity to do behind the scenes work and direct, Lott said.
"For the average person who's just been turned on to opera, it's a good way to get a very overall, big picture," he said. "You get a little taste of everything. In a way it's like a bunch of short plays together."
Homer said the array of singers at NT deserves and needs stage experience.
"When people think of grand opera, they think of the elephants crossing the stage in 'Aieda,'" she said. "Our focus is less on the spectacle and more on the story, the characters and the singing."
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