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Opera at USC will return to campus for the first time in several years for its 2007-08 season.
The season will open with two one-act operas--Gianni Schicchi, a classic comedy, and Amahl and the Night Visitors, a holiday classic--in Drayton Hall Theater. Performances will be held at 7:30 Nov. 9 and 3 p.m. Nov. 11.
"We're very, very happy to be back on campus," said Ellen Schlaefer, director of Opera at USC. "The theatre department and Jim Hunter, the department chair, have been very generous in arranging their schedules so that Opera at USC can perform on campus this year."
Written in the early 20th century and set in Florence in 1299, Gianni Schicchi is Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's only true comic opera. The third in a trio of operas known as Il Trittico, the opera is based on a reference in Dante's The Divine Comedy in which Dante encounters Gianni Schicchi in the Eighth Circle of Hell, reserved for forgers and liars. The opera depicts the deceitful actions that benefit his family but ultimately damn Schicchi to the depths of Hell.
"It's a great piece," Schlaefer said. "It's funny and has great tunes. It's musically complicated and showcases the genius of Puccini. It has one of the most famous of all opera tunes, 'O Mio Babbino Caro,' which has been used in commercials and was featured in the movie A Room with a View."
Raphael Rada, an ABD doctoral student in the School of Music's DMA program who now works as Winthrop University, will perform the role of Schicchi.
Baby boomers probably will recall Amahl and the Night Visitors, by Gian Carlo Menotti, from the NBC television production of the opera that aired for many years each December from 1951 to the mid 1960s. The opera tells the story of a poor, crippled boy who witnesses a miracle when three kings following a star stop for the night at the house he shares with his mother.
Witt Bauknight, an 11-year-old student at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, will perform the role of Amahl. A son of Conrad and Anne Bauknight of Columbia, he is a member of his school chorus and the boys choir at Trinity Cathedral.
"Maestro Menotti was very specific that the role of Amahl should be performed by a boy soprano--not a girl, not an adult. That is why we chose to cast Witt," said Schlaefer, who assisted and stage-managed a production of the opera with Menotti at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. "You could see Witt's talent at the auditions. He was one of those performers that you see and say, 'Wow.' He is a very engaging young man."
Opera at USC also will tour Amahl and the Night Visitors. The first performance will be at Coker College in Hartsville at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 27 with the USC Opera Orchestra. The second performance will be at Brevard College in Brevard, N.C., at 3 p.m. Dec. 9. Donald Portnoy, a professor and conductor in the School of Music, will conduct the Brevard Philharmonic for the performance.
"This is another opportunity for our students because touring is very much a part of the theatrical world," Schlaefer said. "It gives them a little taste of the real world."
Scene design for the two operas will be by local artist Anita Tripathi Easterling. John Whitehead of the Columbia Music Festival Association will design the costumes, and Julie Duro, a New York-based professional lighting director who works with opera, ballet, and theater, will design the lighting. Mimi Worrel is the choreographer for Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Tickets are $18 for adults; $15 for seniors (ages 55 and older) and for University faculty, staff, and military; and $5 for students. To order tickets, call 7-0058 or send an e-mail to eschlaefer@mozart.sc.edu.
For more information about OPERA at USC, go to www.music.sc.edu/ea/Opera or call 7-0058.
10/07
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A scene from Opera at USC's production of Amahl and the Night Visitors.
