The piano played as cast members ran around the performance space, high off excitement and nervousness.
"Look at that!" Ball State University opera director Joseph Levitt said as sophomore Brianna Clark walked down the stairs in her costume for the first time. "It's good! It's really good!"
This was the sight of an average opera dress rehearsal at the Hargreaves Music Building. However, this particular show would be a little different, Levitt said.
On Friday, Levitt and his six-member cast will introduce the first performance of the Ball State Pocket Opera with "The Medium." The Ball State Opera Theatre normally has a presentation in the spring at John R. Emens Auditorium or Sursa Performance Hall, but this year, Levitt created the Pocket Opera company which performs a smaller opera in the fall.
"This is Pocket Opera — it's not a genre; it's a name," he said. "Something that you can fit in your pocket is maybe something that's maybe on a smaller scale. Like an iPod is a travel thing as opposed to the big, fat, honking stereo. That's what we do in April."
Levitt said "The Medium" will have a smaller budget than the spring operas. Clocking in at an hour, this opera is shorter than most others and most importantly, Levitt said, tickets for the show will be free.
Along with being the brains behind the Ball State Pocket Opera, Levitt has been involved with almost every aspect of preparation for the show due to the low budget.
"I cast, I coach musically and now I'm dabbling in lighting," he said. "We're going to light this show. We're not just going to do this in fluorescent lighting."
The performances will take place in Room 123 in Hargreaves, which seats a little more than 200 people. Clark will play the character Mrs. Nolan in "The Medium" and said the room has only been used as practice space before the Pocket Opera.
"The Medium" was written by Gian-Carlo Menotti, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Italian-American composer. The opera, which consists of two acts, debuted in 1947. The story is performed in English and centers around a medium called Madame Flora. Throughout the show, Madame Flora and the characters around her discover the darkest parts of themselves and must face these things for the first time.
"What I love about this opera so much is that pretty much every single [character] in the opera is at a stage of mourning, just in different ways," Clark said.
Many of the cast members of the Pocket Opera's performance of "The Medium" have said the show will appeal to younger audience members who are not familiar with opera because of the modern take on the story.
"Because it's one plot and it's very action-driven, it's kind of an action movie put to an opera," Clark said. "So it's a plot that everyone could enjoy and follow because it's something that we can relate to and understand."
Bonnie von Hoff, a second year doctoral student in the music program, will portray the angry, drunken Madame Flora.
"She's a very cold woman," von Hoff said. "It's a great character to play. I'm nervous, but the only thing I want to concentrate on is just portraying this character."
Though von Hoff has had experience with opera before, she said being involved with the first Pocket Opera performance has been one of her favorite memories since coming to Ball State.
"I wasn't in the operas last year, so it's been a good experience not just to learn the music, but to meet the people," she said.
The cast consists entirely of Ball State students. Along with von Hoff and Clark, the other cast members are Emily Spahr, Christopher Bateson, Marie Cowling and Brayton Arvin. Clark said the small number of cast members helps them bond and, in turn, put on a better show.
"If you can feel comfortable with who you're working with, it's only going to get better," she said. "I mean, Bonnie and I always give each other feedback. We say, ‘Hey, how did you think that was?'"
Levitt said this is the first school year the Opera Theatre has "doubled its output" in terms of performances. He said he hopes to continue fall performances with the Pocket Opera for years to come.
"If [the Pocket Opera] creates an accessibility to get people interested in opera, then maybe they'll want to come to the Mainstage opera in the spring," Levitt said.
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