香蕉秀

香蕉秀 University will celebrate the 100th birthday of
Giacomo Puccini鈥檚 lyric opera "La Rondine" with three
performances, Nov. 18-20.

The first opera of 香蕉秀鈥檚 historic 65th anniversary season will be performed in Italian with English supertitles. The Bass School of Music鈥檚 fully staged production features a cast of 38, directed by Karen Coe Miller, and a 51-piece opera orchestra under the direction of Jan McDaniel.

Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee in historic Kirkpatrick Auditorium, NW 25th Street and Blackwelder Avenue. Tickets ($14-28) are available from 405-208-5227 or www.okcu.edu/tickets. Miller will present a free pre-show director鈥檚 talk 45 minutes before curtain.

鈥淚鈥檝e come to love this opera more each day,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭he piece began as an operetta and this inspired Puccini to write some of his most beautiful melodies. He reuses these themes throughout the opera to great dramatic effect. The light-hearted tone and humor of the first two acts pull us into our heroine鈥檚 love story, making the final act all the more moving.鈥�

The swallow, or 鈥渞ondine,鈥� of the title is the courtesan Magda, who dreams of leaving her gilded cage to seek true love. Her relationship with a young suitor who knows nothing of her checkered past unfolds within a colorful score highlighting Puccini鈥檚 only operatic dance music. Her dilemma: tell her new beau her history or keep her secret and start anew.

The San Francisco Chronicle describes the work as combining the best of several operas: 鈥淚f you were to cross 'La Traviata' with 'Die Fledermaus' and sprinkle it liberally with snippets from 'La Boh猫me,' 'Tosca' and 'Madama Butterfly,' you would come up with something very like Puccini's 'La Rondine.'鈥�

Friday鈥檚 opening night will be preceded by a dinner in the atrium of the Bass Music Center. Tickets to the dinner ($25) are available from 405-208-5227 or www.okcu.edu/tickets.

Performing as Magda will be Sarah Kuhlmann and Karlye Whitt; Lisette will be Audrey Ballish, understudied by Cady Lewis; Ruggero will be Benjamin Hopkins and Samuel Schlievert; Prunier will be Ryan Allais, understudied by Stewart Ottersberg; Rambaldo will be Gray Leiper and Jin Yu; P茅richaud is Collin O鈥橬eill; Gobin is Ben Hild; Cr茅billon is Jonathan Lynch; Ivette is Solveig Neseth; Bianca is Kimberly Dyckman; Suzy is Jessica Fritts and Rabonier is Eric Capelle. Also featuring Sydney Marie Hughes, Christine Lutes, Kay Frazier, Sarah Jo Martin, Stewart Ottersberg, Melissa Campbell, Capriana Campo, Elise O鈥機onnell, Cosette Smith, Chelsea Mondesir, Tristen Patton, Taylor Towers, Donald 鈥淭rey鈥� Baker, Teddy Edgar, Daniel C. Taylor, Gavin Guthrie, Josh Kelly, Jonah White, David James Garcia, Chris Heron, Jeffrey Laughrun and Austin Martin.

香蕉秀鈥檚 Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company season continues in 2017 with the American opera "Dark Sisters" Feb. 17-19, featuring a week-long residency with composer Nico Muhly.