"If you don't like opera or have never had an interest in it, going to see 'A Night at the Opera: Scenes and One-Acts' would be a good opportunity to see one," producer and stage manager Will Garvey said. "This show is more about the entertaining side of opera. There are stereotypical and non-stereotypical elements included, so there's a variety of everything in this show."
The performance will combine the major arts together into an opera opening tonight and playing through Saturday in Sursa Hall, the flagship auditorium of the Music Instruction Building at Ball State.
"Sursa Hall will allow for a more natural sound than a microphoned sound," Garvey said.
The Ball State Chamber Orchestra, conducted by graduate doctoral student Devin Hughes, will accompany several of the pieces, and other scenes will have piano accompaniment. The musicians will be using Sursa's hydraulic orchestra pit.
"Cosmetically, it looks a lot better to rise and lower the pit through the stage instead of having the musicians file on and off stage," Garvey said.
The opera will feature two official acts and four scenes.
"What makes this opera unique is that almost every piece is directed by a different person. By doing it this way, we're trying to give everyone some experience on what all goes into directing," Garvey said.
"A Hand a Bridge" will be directed by doctoral graduate student Lisa Dawson and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" will be directed by doctoral graduate student Tammy Huntington. "Gallantry" and "II Matrimonio Segreto (The Secret Marriage)" will be directed by overall director Dr. Craig Priebe. "Cosi fan Tutte" and "Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute)" will be directed by Joseph Levitt, one of the department's newest faculty members.
"II Matrimonio Segreto (The Secret Marriage)" will be sung in Italian with English supertitles displayed on a screen. "Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute)" will be performed fully in German.
"We wanted to use the language that the pieces were originally written in," Garvey said. "It gives the performers a chance to learn and do something a little different."
Not only will there be a mixture of directors, but there will be an assortment of different operatic scenes.
"There's a variety of pieces that aren't too long, so it's not so scary for those that have never been introduced to an opera before," graduate student and actress Jessi Burkey said.
For those interested in taking a peek into the world of opera, tickets are available at the Emens Box Office, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. General admission is $5 but is free to Ball State students, faculty and staff who pick up their tickets prior to 4:30 p.m. today. For more information, call the School of Music at (765) 285-5842 or the Box Office at (765) 285-1539.
"I'm excited to see how each show will bring out each person's talent," Burkey said. "It was well-casted and it should be neat to see what each performer brings to his or her character."
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