The Opera Workshop at Missouri Western State University presents \u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 1 and 2, and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 3 at the Restoration Church, 117 Francis Street in downtown St. Joseph. Suggested donations for admission are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d is a 90-minute version of Bizet\u2019s famous \u201cCarmen,\u201d adapted by famed stage director Peter Brook. It will be presented without intermission and in its original French, with English surtitles projected on television monitors.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Carmen\u2019 is a very big opera, with a huge cast and chorus, and Brook was looking for a way to do the show in his small, intimate theater in Paris,\u201d said Dr. Susan Carter, associate professor of music and director of the production. \u201cSo he went back to the novella on which Bizet based his opera and stripped it down to its essentials, with a cast of four singers and three actors. All of the famous music that people recognize even if they\u2019ve never been to the opera remain, but \u2018La Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u2019 is more intimate, challenging and direct.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it was presented in New York, \u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d won the 1984 Tony Special Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre and the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.<\/p>\n
The venue for Missouri Western\u2019s production will provide its own \u201cunique theatrical experience,\u201d Dr. Carter said. Restoration Church meets in a former warehouse and natatorium (indoor swimming pool) that church members are restoring to a public space where people can experience and appreciate the city\u2019s unique history.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the outside the building doesn\u2019t look like much, but when you go inside, it\u2019s huge,\u201d Dr. Carter said. \u201cI fell in love with the space. What they are doing there is truly phenomenal. We\u2019ll have seats arranged in a semi-circle so everyone is very close to the action.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 10-piece orchestra conducted by Dr. Matthew Edwards, director of keyboard studies, will accompany a talented cast, including:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur student singers have all won multiple awards in singing competitions, and they\u2019ve really appreciated the opportunity to work alongside a seasoned faculty member in the cast,\u201d Dr. Carter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen,\u201d with lyrics and music by Marius Constant and arranged by Peter Brook and Marius Constant is presented by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., sole agent in the US, Canada and Mexico for Editions Salabert, a Universal Music Publishing Group company, publisher and copyright owner.<\/p>\n
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit <\/em>www.missouriwestern.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Opera Workshop at Missouri Western State University presents \u201cLa Trag\u00e9die de Carmen\u201d at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 1 and 2, and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 3 at the Restoration Church, 117 Francis Street in downtown St. Joseph. Suggested donations for admission are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. \u201cLa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48],"tags":[298,592],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3066"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7998,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions\/7998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}