12F AUGUST 1996
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
'Opera's not just a fat lady with horns'
KU offers opera subspecialty
- From zero to three each season in just four years, opera productions staged by KU's department of music and dance are on a roll.
BY BUNNY SMITH
JOURNAL-WORLD WRITER
Three years after budgetary concerns forced the Kansas University department of theater and film to drop its opera schedule, the department of music and dance not only has picked up the ball, but is off and running with it.
"We're attempting to make opera accessible, to make it the moving and dynamic musical-theatrical event it is," explained department of music and dance chairman Steve Anderson. "Opera's not just a fat lady with horns."
"We do as much for our opera students as virtually anyone in the country and a whole lot more than most."
Steve Anderson, chairman of the KU music and dance department
The 1996-'97 KU opera season calls for three major performances: a fall production of Sondheim's contemporary work, "Into the Woods" in the Inge Theatre; Mozart's ever-popular "Marriage of Figaro" in January in Swarthout
Recital Hall; and a collaboration with the University Symphony Orchestra to stage an operatic setting of Mendelssohn's "Elijah" in the spring at the Lied Center.
A yet-to-be scheduled evening of opera scenes will round out the calendar.
"We feel very comfortable with the three-production format," said John Stephens, professor of voice and director of a number of past operas at KU.
That's up from zero in 1992, when the department
22. when the department which had no funds for an opera production in its budget got word that "the unthinkable happened," as Anderson put it. The theater department had declined to spend its own precious dollars on an opera that year.
"We scrambled to put together two small productions," Anderson said, recalling that a total of only about
SIZZLING SEASON
Kansas University's opera season will include three major productions: "Into the Woods," Oct. 25-26, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1-2, Inge Theatre.
- "The Marriage of Figaro," Jan. 17-19 and Jan. 23-25, Swarthout Recital Hall. John Stephens will be stage director.
- "Elijah," a staged version of the Mendelsohn oratorio with the KU Symphony Orchestra, April 4 and 6, Lied Center. Brian Priestman will conduct.
All performances are at 7:30 p.m. except for "Elijah," which will have an 8 p.m. curtain time.
600 tickets were sold that year. "But that gave us confidence in ourselves and what we could do with our limited budget."
Growing pains
For that initial year, which featured "Of Mice and Men" and "The Secret Marriage" in the relatively tiny Inge Theatre, a planning committee was formed to put together funds to fuel the program.
The following year — 1993'94 the program grew to three productions in three venues, including Gilbert and Sullivan's lighthearted "Mikado" in Swarthout Recital Hall and Mozart's ambitious "Don Giovanni" at the Lied in its debut season. Subsequent seasons have adhered to the three-production/three-venue format.
Anderson calls the growth in the number of productions, venues and budget "huge," adding, "There's real activity going on."
Stephens points to a dramatic increase in the number of students pursuing opera studies and auditioning for roles.
"We do as much for our opera students as virtually
And preparing students for careers in opera is what the program's all about.
"With the growth of the program, there's more interest in the program," Stephens said. "It all goes together."
anyone in the country and a whole lot more than most," he said.
New degree
KU has long offered a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater and voice. Now, this year for the first time, students may receive a master's degree in music with a subspecialty in opera performance. The new degree program places more emphasis on language, diction and role preparation.
"It allows the student to focus more on developing the performance skills and the academics that are specific to an opera career," Stephens said.
Another goal of the growing opera program is to enrich the students' experience by bringing in "guest" directors. The guest director approach has the added benefit of showcasing the potential of KU's opera students.
RICHARD GWIN/JOURNAL-WORLD PHOTO
Kansas University performers rehearse scenes from the opera "Patience," which was performed during the 1995-'96 opera season.
Experience will continue to be the focus of the program, whether it remains at its present three-production format or whether budgetary support
allows it to expand, Anderson said.
"We've made huge steps forward," he said. "But we've either got to do this right or get out of the business, and we're doing a whole lot right."
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