Opera Theatre kicks off season with life love scenes
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There's a lot of chatter around the Choral/Opera Room at Moody Music Building. Costumes are being pieced together, scenes are getting final touches and the pianists are warming up their fingers as the students warm up their voices. All the while, the search for bobby pins, safety pins and a spray-painted garden tool continues.
"What would they want with a garden tool - a spray-painted one at that?" asked Paul Houghtaling about the missing prop. Houghtaling is in his first semester as director of the University of Alabama Opera Theatre.
Twelve black upright boards and seven black boxes serve as a set. An odd array of yellow-colored items are placed neatly backstage.
"Has anyone seen my chorus book?" someone asked.
Through all the commotion, chatter and last minute preparation the 20 members of the UA Opera Theatre group are ready for the first performance of the school year.
Yet members of the Opera Theatre know it's about more than just singing: it's acting, building sets and piecing together props and costumes to create the ultimate atmosphere on stage.
"We truly are a family," said Jonathan Smith, a tenor and graduate assistant in the School of Music. "We've watched each other grow, and we feed off each other's energy during performances. That's what you get with such a small group."
The Promise of Living
Friday and Sunday's performance is titled "The Promise of Living: Scenes of Life and Love." The performance will feature scenes form 12 different operas.
Each scene is paired with the others to help develop a cohesion of the themes of the production.
"The performance is a true smorgasbord of entertainment," Houghtaling said. "The show has depth and organization. It's not just a bunch of random scenes, but scenes that deal with life and love."
Mezzo-soprano Natassia Perrine, who graduated this past August with a degree in advertising and hopes to graduate in May with a degree in vocal performance, will perform in four scenes.
Her first scene is from Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Old Maid and the Thief" in which she plays an old spinster.
Samson et Dalila."
Perrine also sings in the ensembles of scenes from Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" and Leonard Bernstein's "Our Town."
"My role as Dalila is the most vocally challenging performance I've done," Perrine said. "The role has taught me so much about myself as a singer and strengthened me vocally."
Perrine considers herself blessed for the opportunity to participate in the University's opera program because of the experience she's gained as a singer.
"This particular performance has allowed me to play everything from an old spinster to a teenager to a sexual seductress," she said. "It's been a fun experience, and I know the audience will love it."
Soprano Katy Mitchell, a senior majoring in vocal performance, has been taking voice lessons since the ninth grade, simply because she loves to sing.
Mitchell will perform an aria from Douglas Moore's "The Ballad of Baby Doe" in Sunday's production.
"This particular piece works well with my voice type," Mitchell said. "It's a song from the heart."
Like many opera singers, Mitchell likes to do background research on her songs as she learns them.
"I want to feel the emotions and express them to the audience," she said.
Other scenes include Aaron Copland's "The Tender Land" and "Summertime" from George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess."
Scenes from "The Pirates of Penzance" will feature a routine using umbrellas choreographed by Houghtaling.
"We were all nervous about learning that scene," Perrine said. "Houghtaling took it step by step with us."
Houghtaling has performed or helped direct many of the scenes on the program previously, while other scenes are new to him. Nevertheless, he is using old and new material to challenge himself and his students to have experience in various pieces of opera.
"This performance is full of pathos: humor, sadness, love and most importantly, life," Houghtaling said.
"The show is an all-around feel-good show for the public," Mitchell said. "It's not boring - there's lots of English, and it's highly entertaining."
Setting the mood
The music that accompanies the scenes plays just as an important role in developing the atmosphere of the production.
Pianists Aida Marc, Jeff Binford and Joseph Hudson share the piano bench for the production, accompanied by viola professor Daniel Sweaney. Hudson also sings the part of Frederick in the scenes from "The Pirates of Penzance."
Marc, a doctoral student from Romania, said she enjoys the unity the music brings to the singer and the scenes.
"What we convey through our feelings and actions on stage can also be felt through the music," she said. "The music, whether piano or violin, help develop the characters in the scenes and set the tone for what will happen."
Marc is also an associate professor in the opera department at the University of Timisoara in Romania. Her favorite piece she will play during the performance is "Samson et Dalila."
"This piece has a lot of color to it, musically speaking," she said. "It requires a lot of refined knowledge as well as become familiar with the feelings and emotions of the story so you can convey it musically."
Sweaney said that music adds extra color to some of the scenes that are portrayed.
"I can be playing a simple melody, but that melody just adds another layer of authenticity for the audience," he said. "It really pulls them in."
Growing as a team
This year Houghtaling has given the group a new focus, reminding them of the things that mold and shape opera singers.
"Opera is an all encompassing medium," Houghtaling said. "It's dancing, acting and singing all mixed into one."
During the past few months, Houghtaling has reminded his students the importance of meshing all three techniques on stage.
Perrine said she recognizes that most opera students forget about the different aspects they should incorporate into performances.
"As singers, we sometimes forget that we are suppose to convey feelings and emotions on stage," Perrine said. "We become so consumed with singing that we forget to relate with our audience. Houghtaling has really helped remind us of that."
" Houghtaling helps us to understand our body's performance on stage and teaches us the basics of the acting that goes with our singing," Mitchell said. "Sometimes it's hard to put yourself out there on stage and just act."
The new kid on the block, as he sometimes calls himself, Houghtaling's approach of training and preparing his students for their future careers is strictly for the students. In fact, he constantly reminds them and the public that everything he's doing is for the students.
"The only reason I'm here is because of the students," Houghtaling said. "I want to prepare them for their future. You'll see that as you watch the production."
Houghtaling compares his students to those of the Alabama football team in the amount of hard work that is put into training.
"When the football team practices, it's a full body practice, working every muscle and limb in order to perfect their craft," Houghtaling said. "Our training is no different. We take a full body approach to the demands of our craft."
Smith said each member has watched each other grow over the past few months as singers, actors and people.
"We know each other's strengths and limits," Smith said.
"At the end of the day, it's nice to walk out on the stage and have a sense of pride for what you've done.
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