Opera Southeastern to present program on Dec. 2-3

Press Release Date: 11-16-2011

DURANT, Okla. – Opera Southeastern, a part of the Department of Music at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, will present "Follow Your Heart: Works of Gian Carlo Menotti," on Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3.

A double-bill of "The Telephone" and "Amahl and the Night Visitors" will be performed beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall.

"The Telephone" is a one-act comic opera outlining a day in the life of Lucy and Ben, who is enamored with Lucy. Ben visits Lucy before leaving on a trip. His main intention is to propose, but he is interrupted by the telephone.

Lucy is played by Kaela Ganz, and Duncan Kovash handles the role of Ben.

"Amahl and the Night Visitors" is a one-act opera telling the tale of a young, handicapped boy with an imagination that drives his mother crazy.

The family is facing the possibility of becoming beggars. Meanwhile, the young boy is surprised when three kings stop by his home on their journey to find "a Child."

The cast for “Night Visitors’’ features Cheri Conway as the mother and Braden Raines, a fourth-grade student at Durant Intermediate School, as Amahl.

Other cast members are Clifford Cox as Kaspar, Aaron Williams as Melchior, Nicholas Vance as Balthazar, and Taylor Hunt as the Page.

The Shepherds Chorus participants are Marissa Musgrove, Brenna Dougherty, Kristen Morgan, Victoria Cook, Amanda Dann, D.J. Bailey, Hunter Sitz, Jed Hensley, and Kirk Prucha.

Opera Southeastern is under the direction of Jeremy Blackwood, Instructor of Voice. Dr. Robert McFadden will serve as the accompanist.

General admission tickets are $5. Students are admitted free with ID. For more information about this event, call 580-745-2088.