MURFREESBORO
— MTSU Opera Workshop will turn Hinton Hall into a Parisian embassy ballroom
full of romantic and political intrigue Feb. 19-20 when the company recreates
Franz Lehár's beloved 1905 operetta "The Merry Widow."
Presented by MTSU Arts, the 7:30 p.m. performances inside the
university’s Wright Music Building are being directed by Amy Tate Williams,
chorus master and accompanist for Nashville Opera as well as the longtime opera
director for the MTSU-based Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts.
The student cast says they're up to the challenge of telling Lehár's tale:
the musical story of what appears to be half a country's determination to marry
off a rich young widow to a local fellow to keep her 20 million francs at home
and their national economy stable.
"We hope people come to see it and laugh along with the characters,"
said junior Garrett Doo, a baritone from Munford, Tennessee, who portrays the busybody
ambassador Baron Zeta.
"It's a lot of fun. It gives me the opportunity to get experience
doing a full opera and working with someone of Amy's caliber."
“We always have a good time because many of us have been working
together since our freshman year,” added Beth Ann Stripling, the Knoxville junior
whose soprano voice is getting a merry workout in the lead role of Hanna
Glawari.
“This is a wonderful resume builder, but we really enjoy performing it,
too. This is a great environment for us to learn and work in.”
MTSU Opera, directed by School of Music professor Dr. Raphael Bundage,
regularly presents fully staged, professional-caliber productions for the
campus community, offering in-depth experience for undergraduate and graduate
students in performances including "Sweeney Todd," "Ragtime: The
Musical" and "The Marriage of Figaro."
Many of the students, who are vocal performance majors, also work with
MTSU Theatre musical productions and have been part of recent sold-out
presentations of Handel's "Messiah" and "Les Misérables."
“I auditioned for this show because I’m seeking a career in opera as
well as planning for graduate school,” explained Murfreesboro senior William
Taylor Duke, who’s portraying the ambassador’s intended new husband for Hanna,
Count Danilo. “It’s a fine opportunity for each of us to build up our
professional experience.”
The operetta, first performed in Vienna in 1905, became a fast hit, leading
to international tours, revivals, cast recordings and two film versions in the
century since. Its settings range from the Parisian embassy headquarters of the
fictional nation of Pontevedro to the widow’s posh garden to an evening at the
famous Maxim’s cabaret as the characters pursue, ignore, entice and infuriate
each other.
The Metropolitan Opera recently opened a new production of “The Merry
Widow” featuring soprano Renee Fleming that will resume in April and be
screened later in theaters worldwide. You can prepare for the MTSU production
by listening to a 1907 recording of “The Merry Widow Waltz,” the most
well-known tune in the operetta’s score, at http://www.mtsunews.com/mtsu-opera-merry-widow.
General-admission tickets for the Feb. 19-20 performances are $10 for
adults and $5 for all non-MTSU students and will be available at the door. MTSU
students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with a valid ID. For more
ticket information, call 615-898-2849.
An MTSU Arts Patrons Society reception also is planned for opening
night, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. in MTSU’s Saunders Fine Arts Building. For
information on becoming a member of the MTSU Arts Patrons Society and
supporting fine arts at MTSU, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/mtsuarts/patronssociety.php.
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