UD Opera Workshop 2006

Cast & Staff

CAST

Mike Blocksidge: Owen Wingrave (OWEN WINGRAVE)
Todd Bodey: Lechmere (OWEN WINGRAVE), Valjean (LES MISERABLES), Cherry Alley by Nakada
Jessica Cole: Mrs. Coyle (OWEN WINGRAVE), Anna Maurrant (STREET SCENE), Cio-Cio San (MADAME BUTTERFLY)
Lauren Cushman: Gretel (HANSEL & GRETEL), The day after that (THE KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN)
Bethany Deetz: Suzuki (MADAME BUTTERFLY), Peace, my heart by Milhaud
Shannon LaRue: Rosalinda (DIE FLEDERMAUS), Vocalise by Rachmaninoff
Natalia Owsiany: Hansel (HANSEL & GRETEL)
Lainey Prendeville: Miss Wingrave (OWEN WINGRAVE), Susannah Polk (SUSANNAH)
Michele Rickert: Kate (OWEN WINGRAVE), Litanei by Schubert, I go on (MASS)
Charles Rittenhouse: Cable (SOUTH PACIFIC), 'Peace is...' solos (OWEN WINGRAVE)
Ben Rivet: Spencer Coyle (OWEN WINGRAVE), With rue, my heart is laden by Barber
Jonathan Scrimenti: I'll be seeing you (RIGHT THIS WAY), 'Peace is...' solos (OWEN WINGRAVE)
Jennifer Seitzer: Mrs. Julian (OWEN WINGRAVE), Sandman (HANSEL & GRETEL)
Robert Slangen: Sir Phillip Wingrave (OWEN WINGRAVE), Anatoly (CHESS), Sam Polk (SUSANNAH)
Erik Strope: Nemorino (L'ELISIR D'AMORE), 'Peace is...' solos (OWEN WINGRAVE)
Tutti: The day after that (THE KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN), Make our garden grow (CANDIDE)

STAFF

John Benjamin, piano
Lee Hoffman, director
David Sievers, director

The Tragic Gap Concept

"[T]o be in the world nonviolently means learning to hold the tension of opposites, trusting that the tension itself will pull our hearts and minds open to a third way of thinking and acting. In particular, we must learn to hold the tension between the reality of the moment and the possibility that something better might emerge.... The insight at the heart of nonviolence is that we live in a tragic gap - a gap between the way things are and the way we know they might be. It is a gap that never has been and never will be closed. If we want to live nonviolent lives, we must learn to stand in the tragic gap, faithfully holding the tension between reality and possibility."

This is an excerpt from an essay about the concept of the "tragic gap" as discussed in
A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward An Undivided Life by Parker J. Palmer.

Our Fall 2006 Opera Workshop production is inspired by this concept, with the intention that we and our audience will be awakened to the roots of conflict within ourselves that are reflected and projected as conflict in the world.

Not fighting against war or for peace, we hope that by "standing in the tragic gap"

...between the self we are and the self we most want to be,

...between our present reality and our most wished for reality,

...between the world as it is and the world as we know it can be,

peace in the world is possible.

We are interested in your thoughts and ideas. Feel free to contact us!
Phone: Lee Hoffman at 937-229-3931 or David Sievers at 937-229-4971
Email: Lee.Hoffman@notes.udayton.edu or Sieverda@notes.udayton.edu.
about the directors: Lee Hoffman and David Sievers

Scenes

Scene 1: Scene from OWEN WINGRAVE by Benjamin Britten
Scene 1a: You've got to be carefully taught from SOUTH PACIFIC by Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960) & Richard Rodgers (1902-1979)
Scene 1b: Flower Duet from MADAME BUTTERFLY by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Scene 1c: Una furtiva lagrima from L'ELISIR D'AMORE by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Scene 2: Scene from OWEN WINGRAVE
Scene 2a: Sandman's Song from HANSEL & GRETEL by Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)
Scene 2b: I'll be seeing you from RIGHT THIS WAY by Irving Kahal (1903-1942) & Sammy Fain (1902-1989)
Scene 2c: Litanei by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Scene 2d: Cherry Alley by Yosinao Nakada (b. 1923)
Scene 2e: Evening Prayer from HANSEL & GRETEL
Scene 3: Scene from OWEN WINGRAVE
Scene 3a: Csárdás from DIE FLEDERMAUS by Johann Strauss (1825-1899)
Scene 3b: Peace, my heart from DEUX POEMES D'AMOUR by Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)
Scene 3c: Anthem from CHESS by Benny Andersson (b. 1946), Tim Rice (b. 1944), & Bjorn Ulvaeus (b. 1945)
Scene 4: Scene from OWEN WINGRAVE
Scene 4a: Somehow I could never believe from STREET SCENE by Langston Hughes (1902-1967) & Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Scene 4b: The trees on the mountains from SUSANNAH by Carlisle Floyd (b. 1926)
Scene 4c: It's about the way people is made, I reckon from SUSANNAH
Scene 5: Scene from OWEN WINGRAVE
Scene 5a: Bring him home from LES MISERABLES by Herbert Kretzmer (b. 1945), Alain Boublil (b. 1941), & Claude-Michel Schönberg (b. 1944)
Scene 5b: With rue, my heart is laden by Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Scene 5c: The day after that from THE KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN by Fred Ebb (1935-2004) & John Kander (b. 1927)
Scene 5d: Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Scene 6: Scene from OWEN WINGRAVE
Scene 6a: I go on from MASS by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Scene 6b: Make our garden grow from CANDIDE by Leonard Bernstein

Rehearsals

Tuesday, September 12
4:30 PM - Acting Exercises

Thursday, September 14
4:30 PM - Individual music coachings, TBA

Thursday, September 7
4:30 PM - Tutti Rehearsal: The day after that (with the duet) and Make our garden grow

All in Sears Recital Hall
As close to memorized as possible; no holds barred music-making!

Tuesday, September 5
4:30 PM - Sectional Rehearsals: The day after that (no duet) and Make our garden grow

Men in Sears Recital Hall with David Sievers and John Benjamin
Women in MT 114 with Lee Hoffman

Please let us know if you have questions.

We will start rehearsing other music during the week of 9/12. Prepare now! The sooner all music is solid, the sooner we can get to the dramatic through-line, characters, etc.

Tuesday & Thursday, August 29 & 31, 4:30-5:45 PM, Sears Recital Hall
Be prepared to thoroughly rehearse the following:

The day after that
Make our garden grow

Reminder of changes as detailed in 8/27/06 email:

Flower duet (Bollin & Deetz): Cut p. 242, 1st system, 3rd measure to p. 244, 3rd system, 1st measure
I'll be seeing you (Scrimenti): Cut p. 1; start on p. 2, 4th system, 1st measure
Litanei (Rickert): Verses 1 and 3 only
Csárdás (LaRue): There's a fast section after p. 87 - I'll get it to you asap; if there are repeats in the fast section, ignore them
Somehow I could never believe (Cole): Cut p. 205, 2nd system, 2nd measure to p. 212, top
The trees on the mountain (Prendeville): Cut p. 8, 4th system, 3rd measure, last beat to p. 10, 3rd system, 4th measure, last beat
Vocalise (LaRue): No repeats
The day after that (Tutti): Cut p. 6, 4th system to p. 8, 2nd system, 2nd measure; tutti in unison from p. 8, 2nd system, 2nd measure to p. 9, 2nd system, 1st measure; soloists in unison, SATB in harmony from p. 9, 2nd system, 2nd measure to p. 9, 4th system, 1st half of 1st measure; tutti in unison from p. 9, 4th system, 2nd half of 1st measure to p. 10, 1st system, 1st half of 2nd measure; soloists in unison, SATB in harmony from p. 10, 1st system, last beat of 2nd measure through end. [we will give this to you in musically notated form on Tuesday - just wanted you to know the format]
Do you hear the people sing? (Tutti): Cut - we will not be doing this piece after all; Charles and Jon - we have re-assigned you solos elsewhere
OWEN WINGRAVE Scene 6 Solo Assignments (Blocksidge, Rittenhouse, Scrimenti, Strope):

Rehearsal #246 - Blocksidge (Owen)
Rehearsal #247 - Scrimenti
Rehearsal #248 - Rittenhouse
Rehearsal #249 - Rittenhouse
Rehearsal #250 - Scrimenti
Rehearsal #251 - Strope
Rehearsal #252 - Rittenhouse
Rehearsal #253 - Blocksidge (Owen); Mike, change the word 'bugbears' to 'doctrines'
Rehearsal #254 - Scrimenti
Rehearsal #255 - Strope
Rehearsal #256 - Blocksidge (Owen)

Thursday, August 24, 4:30-5:45 PM, Sears Recital Hall
Be prepared to sing through the following tutti numbers:

Do you hear the people sing? (starting at the chorus; Jonathan and Charles, be prepared to sing the solo parts)
The day after that (starting at the bottom of page 6; Lauren and Abbey, be prepared to sing the solo parts)
Make our garden grow (whole thing)
Owen Wingrave 6th scene (you'll see something like OW Act 2... in the left margin; it's the one with the text "Peace is..." - be ready to sing solo through the places marked 'other')

Tuesday, August 22, 4:30-5:45 PM, Sears Recital Hall
Introductions, cast assignments, digging in