USU Opera to perform
Polish the viking horns and break out the fat lady because the students of the Opera Theatre at Utah State University will be singing their hearts out in this semester’s production.
They will present two one-act operas, “Riders to the Sea” and “Trial by Jury” at the Caine Lyric Theatre.
USU Opera Theatre Director and head coach for the Utah Festival Opera company, Lynn Jemison-Keisker, said about 35 students are participating in the operas. Opera Theatre is a course students can take for one to three credits depending on the amount of time students have, she said.
“It’s not only educational for students. It’s educational for the community,” Jemison-Keisker said.
“We do one major production every semester,” Jemison-Keisker said of the Opera Theatre class. This semester the group will perform one-acts, which are shorter operas with varied story lines, she said. The Opera Theatre class has also done full operas and scenes from operas.
“We vary the program,” Jemison-Keisker said.
“Riders to the Sea” is an Irish opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It is a drama about a mother who loses her husband, father-in-law and four of her six sons to sea, Jemison-Keisker said.
“Trial by Jury” is a British comedy by Gilbert and Sullivan. The opera is about a man who decides to marry a new love, leaving his previous fiancé to sue him for breach of contract the day before his wedding, Jemison-Keisker said.
The two operas will be guest directed by Colin Baldy, a voice teacher who came to USU from London, England.
Guest directors are brought in each semester and are sponsored by the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation.
Baldy lives and works in Italy and teaches singing in England and Italy. Before coming to USU Baldy taught a course in Rome on Handel’s Messiah. He is an international artist and director, Jemison-Keisker said.
Baldy invited USU students from the spring 2004 casts of USU operas to tour England. They will get to see opera performances, concerts and take master classes in fall 2005.
The class has spent three days a week on campus practicing and the two weeks prior to this performance practicing in the Caine Lyrics Theatre, Jemison-Keisker said.
“If students haven’t seen an opera before, we encourage them to come out,” Jemison-Keisker said. “[The operas] are appealing for people of all ages.”
The box office opens one hour before each showing. General admission adult tickets are $5, seniors and non-Utah State students are $3, and all Utah State students and faculty can attend for free.
The performances start at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with 1 p.m. matinee Saturday. The theater is located at 28 W. Center in downtown Logan.
-sdobson@cc.usu.edu