Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin State University voice students will present a program of musical theatre and opera scenes in a performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.
The “Fall Scenes Program” will feature students enrolled in the Opera Workshop class taught by Dr. Deborah Dalton, associate professor of voice and director of opera, and Dr. Gene H. Moon, director of orchestras and musical director of opera.
“Our Opera Workshop class continues to grow,” Dalton said. “There are 27 students enrolled this semester. There are 11 scenes on the program in order to accommodate everyone. Once again, I have assigned musical theatre scenes to the younger students while the more experienced singers have opera scenes, many in the original language.”
The program includes selections from “West Side Story,” “Wonderful Town,” “Into the Woods,” “Street Scene,” and “Candide.” The opera scenes are from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and “Le nozze di Figaro,” Gioachino Rossini’s “Il barbieri di Siviglia,” Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Old Maid and the Thief” and Mark Adamo’s “Little Women.”
“I enjoy the fall opera scenes because of the variety of selections and the challenges of using ‘found’ elements as the set,” Dalton said. “The singers and the audience add so much to the experience by using their imaginations."
Moon will provide piano accompaniment along with senior Parker Dickenson of Gary and freshman Rachel Clark of Lumberton. Evelyn Shaffer, choral conducting graduate student from Houston, will conduct the Menotti work.
The recital is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.