Summer opera tries to enlighten a crass world
Michael Ballam said his 15 years as a principal volunteer for the Utah Festival Opera Company have been more than rewarding.
“This is not my job, this is my passion,” Ballam said. “What I want to do is make the world a better place, and I believe we have done that here. Three-hundred-thousand people have walked through those doors in the last 15 years whose lives are better for coming inside this building. We live in a very vulgar, crass world and at least for a few hours, when they come inside that building, they get a glimpse of something better.”
The Utah Festival Opera Company, founded and directed by Ballam, is entering its 15th year of operation. Each year, four or five different operas or musicals are planned, practiced and produced on the stage at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan. This creates a five-week, nationally known festival of summer performances.
The five performances for 2007 season consist of “West Side Story,” “Il Trovatore,” “Most Happy Fella,” “Porgy & Bess” and “Showboat.” Ballam said he is unsure which performance in particular he would recommend someone to attend.
“That’s like asking me which of my children I would save if the ship was going down,” he said. “They need to look and see what appeals to them. If they love American jazz, then ‘Porgy & Bess.’ If they love a Romeo and Juliet story, then they ought to see ‘West Side Story.’ If they want to see a musical that will change their life and make them come out a different and better person, then ‘Most Happy Fella’ is the one.”
All the operas and musicals are five entirely different works, Ballam said, and each one is a masterpiece. This is the first season in 15 years where Ballam said he can really say that about every single work.
“They’re the best of the best,” he said.
Tonya Smith, director of marketing and communication, said prices for USU students are half off and can be purchased one hour before each show begins, called the “student rush.” Smith said students need to remember to bring a valid student identification card.
Ballam said although many USU students attend the performances or take part in some performances, he said he would like to see more students there.
“If they want, they can see an opera for the same price of a movie,” Ballam said. “It’s a wonderful date. It’s a good way to impress a girlfriend or a boyfriend if you bring them to an opera. It makes them think you’re intelligent.”
Smith said attending the opera is becoming more of a trend among younger people but some people are intimidated to come to the opera because of proper opera etiquette, especially in terms of dress. But Smith said not to worry since the opera brings in people who come in all different types of clothing.
“I’ve seen people in shorts, obviously nothing too grungy, but I’ve seen people in all different attire,” Smith said. “Since we are in Logan, Utah, it is not an uptight atmosphere.”
As a girl, Smith said she loves to dress up in a fancy dress for certain events and since she said there are not many opportunities for dressing up in Logan, she most often dresses up for the opera.
“But it’s not a necessity at all,” she said.
Ballam said although he sees an occasional man dressed in a tuxedo, even Larry H. Miller will come in a golf shirt and khaki pants. Being comfortable during the performance is what Ballam said should be important to the patron.
Smith said seeing the different reactions from the audience members once a show ends is the most rewarding part of her work. After putting in a “great deal of time and heart” into the performances, Smith said the company’s hard work pays off.
“Last year as I was in the foyer and I would watch people walk out of the foyer, and the looks on their faces after seeing the show, it was priceless,” she said. “It made everything that we did worth it because we just created an experience that would stay with those patrons forever, and you could tell just by their expressions on their faces.”
Ballam said opera is the only serious art form that is on the upswing in terms of a younger demographic, because opera offers a visual as well as an audio experience.
“People of your generation are not as satisfied to sit in a dark room and listen to something as they are wanting to see something happen,” he said.
Opera is the world’s finest music and the world’s biggest stories, he said. People keep coming back to opera performances because it is so dramatic and touching, Ballam said.
For those unfamiliar with opera, Smith said one thing to be aware of during a performance is to look for super titles. These titles appear above the stage and act as live subtitles to help the audience follow along with a storyline being spoken and sung in a different language.
So if you’re not quite sure what’s happening in a scene, you can glance up and read it,” Smith said.
The 2007 season begins July 11 and ends Aug. 11. Ballam said more than 25,000 people came to watch last year’s opera season, and he said he expects just as many people, if not more, to attend the 2007 season.
“We’ve had people come from abroad,” he said. “We had one come from China last year. He came expecting to stay one day, and he ended up spending two or three weeks.”
Utah Festival Opera Company office is located at 59 S. 100 West in Logan. To reserve tickets and order by phone, please call 800-262-0074 or 750-0300 ext. 106.
For more information concerning particular dates and show times of each production, visit Utah Festival Opera on the Web at www.ufoc.org/.
-britg@cc.usu.edu