The Music Department’s Opera Workshop class held performances on Dec. 5 and 7 at 5:30 p.m. Lisbeth Brittain Carter, an adjunct professor who has taught at Meredith College since 1994, directed the performance. In Carswell Concert Hall, the students performed scenes from “West Side Story” and “Hansel and Gretel.”
Performing Act 2, Scene 1 of Leonard Bernstain’s “West Side Story,” the singers performed “I Feel Pretty.” The musical, inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” follows a love story between Maria and Tony in the mid-1950s as rival gangs try to split them apart.
Maria was played by SarahElla Trustman and Hannah Bomar, one playing on Wednesday while the other played on Monday. The other performers included Cynthia Styron Sanchez, Angel Kelley, Megan Spence, Antonella Rosales and Latanya Norman.
The next performance was of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, “Hansel and Gretel.” The story revolves around two siblings who are sent out to retrieve strawberries and are captured by a witch. The text in the musical by Adelheid Wette was based on the Grimm brothers’ story of the same name.
Performing Act 1, the singers included Audrey Hubbard, Azrielle Marino, Alaire Donofio, Eliandras Sims, Kristin Foster, Cynthia Styron and Megan Spence. On Monday, Madison Jones performed as Gretel, but on Wednesday they stepped in as Sandman after the initial performer got sick. Despite only one practice with the new lines, they performed spectacularly.
Overall, the performance was amazing as the singers and everyone involved worked hard to put it together. Professor Carter thanked Jeanie Wozenencraft-Ornellas for all they did to help with tech support and Giselle Harris Dangerfied for their accompaniment on piano.
By Riley Heeb, Reporter