NewsRelease

(Posted 3-16-04)
Contact: Tiffany Aumann, 336-334-5371

UNCG Opera Theatre to Perform ‘Susannah’ in April

GREENSBORO – Gossip has devastating consequences for the residents of a small southern community in UNCG’s next operatic production, “Susannah.”
The opera, co-produced by the School of Music and UNCG Theatre, will be staged in Aycock Auditorium Thursday through Saturday, April 1-3 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 4, at 2 p.m.

Based on the Biblical story of Susannah and the Elders, the story is a tragic tale of the loss of innocence of a pretty 18-year-old girl in New Hope Valley, Tenn. One day when the town elders are out seeking a creek for a baptism, they come across Susannah, bathing on her own property. The incensed elders return to the church and report what they saw, triggering a wave of local gossip about the unsuspecting girl. Susannah is later turned away from a church picnic and learns from her friend Little Bat what has happened. In the ensuing scenes the townspeople begin to use religion to their own ends. The preacher makes an inappropriate visit to Susannah’s home, and violence erupts.

Mark Ross Clark, an associate professor at Indiana University, has been invited to guest direct the production. Clark has produced and directed more than 50 operas for regional opera companies and universities. He is in demand nationally as a workshop instructor and teaches each summer at Opera Lucca and Epcaso in Italy.

 “ ‘Susannah’ has such a beautiful, aching feel. It makes you think and feel deeply,” he said.

Complementing the opera’s intense action is its equally powerful music, said David Holley, conductor and musical director of the production and head of the UNCG Opera Theatre.

“It’s an incredible musical score. Part of it will tear your heart out,” he said. “When there’s dissonance, it’s because there is tension on stage. Yet, people can also leave this show humming; there are accessible tunes and a lot of folk elements.”

The roles for ‘Susannah’ have been double cast and feature Melissa Brobeck and Rhiannon Giddens in the title role. Susannah’s brother Sam will be played by Nathan Kling and Daniel Stein. The preacher Olin Blitch will be played by James Bumgardner, and Nathan Kling and Dustin Ousley will alternate the role of Little Bat. The singers, including a chorus of twenty five, will be accompanied by the UNCG Opera Orchestra.

One of the challenges of the production is handling the set changes. Set in the 1950s, the opera takes place at the church, Susannah’s home and in the creek (Susannah will be depicted as a silhouette behind a screen in the bathing scene). Often when the opera is staged, the audience must tolerate one to two minutes of silence as the scenery enters and exits the stage.

“Because of the trajectory of this opera, these changes need to feel continuous and have momentum,” Clark said.

In order to accomplish this task, Clark worked with Andrew Liebchen, an undergraduate UNCG theater student who researched and created the design and communicated his ideas with Clark via email. The result will be a setting that quickly transforms from scene to scene through hoisted steeples, roofs and an illuminated scrim (transparent fabric that can be lit for special effects).  Theater student Joshua Reaves is the lighting designer.

“Susannah” premiered at Florida State University in 1955 and in New York in 1956. The opera was written by Carlisle Floyd (b. 1926), who is also famous for his operatic adaptation of “Of Mice and Men.”

Tickets for the UNCG production are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students and $6 for UNCG students. They are available through the university box office at (336) 334-4849, weekdays from noon to 5 p.m., or in Aycock Auditorium one hour before curtain.

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