Opera Workshop: ‘Berg undergoes Transformations

This weekend, Empie Theatre was transformed into the Metropolitan stage. The Muhlenberg Opera Workshop, entitled Transformations, directed this year by Brian Ming Chu, opened its doors to the public on Friday and Saturday night. This particular opera was different from those in the past in that it included four separate scenes from four separate operas with four different composers. Anyone involved in music and opera will understand that this is quite a feat, and it was incredible to be a part of the team. All of the cast and crew banded together to pull off this ambitious and exciting project.

The four different scenes had different plots and characters, and were often from different time periods. They were connected, however, by the theme of transformation. Handel’s Alcina opened up the production, with haunting music and costumes telling the story of a sorceress who lures men to her island, and turns them into inanimate objects. The scenes detail the search for the latest captive, Ruggiero, by his lover, Bradamante. Alcina is an incredibly haunting and beautiful piece that was delightfully performed, especially by Alison Smith ‘17 in the title role. Her strong and precise tone carried the scene and was haunting and beautiful to listen to.

After Alcina was Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The section of the opera that was selected was the end of Act I, where the wealthy Don Giovanni attempts to seduce Zerlina, who is in love with Masetto, a poor man. He captures her and takes her offstage, and sword fights ensue. This piece was definitely a show stopper of the production, a loud and boisterous party scene that provided an interesting contrast to the lyrical beauty of Alcina.

Maggie Capone ‘20, who played the role of Zerlina, spoke about what it was like working as a freshman among upperclassmen in a show as difficult and complex as Don Giovanni. “I found it to be a really cool experience. It was definitely intimidating being one of the younger people in the room, especially because I had never done any actual work in opera before and all the people I was working with were all so talented and professional. But being able to work with them and see their work ethic was such an amazing learning opportunity. And then getting the chance to sing with them was just incredible.” The Opera Workshop provides talented students like Capone with opportunities to explore music and performance in a new way.

The third scene of the night was from Bizet’s Carmen. The scene selected was one of the most famous opera scenes of all time, the Chorus of Cigarette Girls and the Habanera. This scene takes place outside a cigarette factory, where the soldiers and the other men wait for the beautiful cigarette girls to come out for their break. They are most fond of and intrigued by Carmen, portrayed by the extremely talented Jess Orelus ‘19. Orelus had the audience (and her castmates) wrapped around her finger throughout the entirety of the scene; she was a joy to work with and watch perform. One of the most challenging aspects of this scene was having a group of chorus members sing accurately in French. However, with dialect coach Francine Roussel, the chorus was able to come together and create a beautiful scene.

The final opera sequence was Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. The only scene in English, Candide was a comedic and crowd-pleasing way to end the evening. It tells the story of a young man who is in love with a girl named Cunegonde, and the difficulties their relationship faces. The ways in which they and the other characters choose to handle the difficulties makes for an incredibly funny and entertaining performance.

There were some of us who had never even sung in a different language before, and some who found opera to be one of their great talents and passions. Zach Aldave ‘20, who auditioned as a chorus member, spoke about some of the challenges he faced. “It was really difficult being in all four scenes and switching between different languages. Each language has different rules that have to be followed, and the amount of music we had to learn was overwhelming, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.”

Julia Baker ‘19 spoke about her favorite part of being involved. “The ability to work with music faculty outside of voice lessons was really valuable. I definitely learned a lot from working extensively with Vinny [Trovato] and Brian [Ming Chu].”

Overall, Transformations was a great experience both for the audience and for the cast. The audience was able to see a large amount of Muhlenberg talent, and the cast members were able to explore the beautiful world of opera and learn about the different languages and time periods that they were portraying. Thanks to the extensive experience of the theatrical departments at Muhlenberg, students are able to immerse themselves in a wide variety of fascinating performances and theatre styles, including this unique Opera Workshop.