USU Opera Theatre presents ‘Abduction from the Seraglio’
Community members gathered at the Utah Theatre to immerse themselves in the Utah State University Opera Theatre performance from April 3-11.
“I was in awe at the notes they hit,” said USU junior Mallory Grunander. “The talent is insane.”
Utah State’s Opera Theatre students worked hard on their performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio” under the direction of Dallas Aksoy alongside the USU Symphony Orchestra to create a memorable experience for audience members.
The opera was written just before Mozart’s more widely recognized opera, “The Magic Flute.”
“This is a lesser-known Mozart opera,” said Kate Haycock, a student performer who played Constanza in the production. “The music is incredible, and my castmates are so incredibly talented.”
Opera students had the opportunity to work with other university departments to prepare and perform the show for USU and Cache Valley community members.
“We’ve been preparing since about beginning- to mid-January,” Haycock “We’ve gotten to collaborate with our symphony orchestra, which doesn’t always happen, so it’s been a real pleasure.”
Audience members valued the talent and musicality the live orchestra brought to the performance.
“The orchestra behind it was insane, too,” Grunander said. “It was really, really cool.”
The show was performed four times, each time delivering an entertaining experience for the attending audience. The show provided a comedic and dramatic storyline told with musicality and song.
“I just really enjoyed the humor of the show,” said USU junior Liza Sorensen. “I wasn’t expecting it to be as funny as it was, but I feel like the actors did a really good job at making their characters funny and enjoyable.”
Beyond its humor, the opera explores contrasting portrayals of love through its characters. Haycock said the production presented both playful and deeply devoted relationships.
“One couple is more comedic. They’re kind of snarky with each other and sarcastic, but they still love each other,” Haycock said. “That’s contrasted with Constanza and Belmonte, who have this really tender love and are willing to die for each other.”
The storyline brought entertainment through its comedy, romance and tension, but a lot of time and effort went into preparing the details of the set and clothing of the characters, which tied the performance together, according to Haycock.
“I think that our set design and our costume design are stunning,” Haycock said.
The students’ efforts did not go unnoticed by the audience. USU senior Grace Packer said above all, the performers’ technical skills and attention to detail stood out most.
“In every note that they were singing, you could hear the hours of practice they put into it,” Packer said. “It was very well done, and I thought the costuming was just perfect. I loved all the details.”
Haycock said the rehearsal process involved extensive individual coaching sessions focused on interpreting Mozart’s style.
“Mozart is a very specific composer,” Haycock said. “Very specific things go into how you sing his works.”
After their initial practice with Mozart’s style, the performers then transitioned into staging rehearsals, building the production piece by piece over the course of nearly three months.
Haycock said while her passion for music began at a young age and ultimately shaped her academic path, she was not always familiar with the opera style. However, after being introduced to it, she grew to really appreciate the skills and beauty that go into opera performances.
“When I get to sing, there’s such a vulnerability that you get to share with people,” Haycock said. “It’s something you don’t get to do in a lot of other mediums. It’s nice to be in my own head and share something that’s so personal with the people around me.”
She said that many other people may also not be familiar with opera but could learn a lot by keeping an open mind and experiencing opera for themselves.
“I think that sometimes opera can be a hard sell for people, and I can totally understand why,” Haycock said. “I would just tell people to give it a chance.”