The Texas Tech University School of Music and Lubbock Moonlight Musicals will perform two one act operas, “Suor Angelica” and “The Old Maid and The Thief” on September 26-28 at the Wells Fargo Amphitheater.
‘Suor Angelica’ was written by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who is notable for other works like “La Boheme” and “Madama Butterfly.” Gian Garlo Menotti wrote the “The Old Maid and the Thief.”
Gerald Dolter, Tech’s music theatre director, said one of the goals of Lubbock Moonlight Musicals has been to perform an outdoor opera since the completion of the amphitheater in 2006.
Marissa Hernandez rehearses for Puccini’s opera, “Suor Angelica.” Hernandez is a sophomore vocal performance major.
“It’s taken us this long,” Dolter said, “to be so comfortable in that amphitheater that we were able to offer opera.”
Dolter said the endeavor presents some unique challenges — due to Lubbock’s unpredictable weather.
“Now, it’s in the open air out there,” Dolter said. “We’re subject to the weather. The sun around here — this time of the year, the sun goes down at the right time to begin a show because it’ll be starting to get dark very quickly around eight o’clock, and the theatrical lighting will take over.”
Gregory Brookes, director of the productions, said they began casting for the productions in May of this year.
“All of the singers knew what role they were going to have,” Brookes said, “and over the summer, they were expected to learn the role themselves, and then the week before classes started, the students had musical rehearsals, and they had musical rehearsals everyday.”
Brookes said they started staging rehearsals four times per week and three hours each evening. That accumulates a lot of practice time.
“I would say,” Brookes said, “the singers have put in close to a hundred hours of rehearsal, besides their own practice time, to get this together and get it ready.”
Brookes said he doesn’t think there have been challenges between alternating from one play to the other since none of the actors are in both showings.
Brookes not only directs the play, he said, but he’s also the artistic and stage director.
“I direct the singers on the stage,” Brookes said. “I tell them their blockings; so I tell them where to move, what props they need with them, what to do with the props.”
Marissa Hernandez is ready for the first showing on September 26.
Dolter said the singers are going to sing in Italian, but there is a solution for guests who speak English and not Italian: supertitles.
“I think it’s going to be at the sides of the stage,” Dolter said. “There will be an English translation running there since you would know what they’re saying to each other.”
Dolter said the custom of outdoor theaters dates back to the Italians, who invented the genre.
“It was like going to the mall,” Dolter laughs. “They would take food and wine; there would be fights that would break out. All the while, there would be a stage work going on and beautiful singing going on stage.”
Since there are no seats at the amphitheater, Dolter urges attendees to bring their lawn chairs and their picnic baskets.
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