PULLMAN, Wash. — The Washington State University Opera Workshop
plans a production of “20th Century American Opera” on Nov. 16 in WSU’s
Bryan Hall Auditorium.
The 6 p.m. program, open to the public without charge, will include two one-act
operas, as well as scenes from three larger works.
The first one-act opera on the program is “A Hand of Bridge” by Samuel
Barber. In the nine-minute opera, four friends are gathered for their evening
bridge game. As the action progresses, each sings an aria expressing their
thoughts about their present situations in life. “A Game of Change” by
Seymour Barab is next on the program. In the one-act opera, three unhappy
women meet each day in the park to “knit their boring lives away.” A
messenger of fate arrives to grant each of them their fondest wish. However,
after granted, the women are still unsatisfied and realize they should have
wished for more.
The program continues with three scenes from two operas by Gian-Carlo
Menotti: “The Medium” and “The Consul,” as well as Douglas Moore’s “The
Ballad of Baby Doe.” The subject matter in each of the two is more serious as
they deal with two troubled young people in love, a woman trying desperately
to escape from behind the iron curtain and the ever-popular love triangle.
Director of the WSU Opera Workshop is Julie Anne Wieck. She teaches voice
and diction, as well as directs opera and musical theater at the university.
Nineteen singers make up the program that will be accompanied by Hsaio-Ling
Lo and Lauren Quock. The workshop members include David-Joel Korkowski,
Nina Strang, Andrew Mielke, Jessica Crawford, Evie Gibler, Jessica Heilsberg,
Emily Squyer, Mark Hansen, Elisabeth Delaney, David Sampson, Tani Fritz,
Megan Gregory, Marlene Berner, Amy Siebe, Justin Smith, Devon Earls, Erika
Hammond, SaRah Busse and Heather Maib.
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