by Maria DeBlassie
Daily Lobo
Members of the UNM Opera Theatre want to change the way some people view opera.
Andrea Clayton is the stage manager and assistant director of UNM Opera Theatre's performance of "Don Pasquale," a humorous opera directed by Marilyn Tyler.
"Marilyn likes to choose a comic opera now and then to inform the public that there is more to opera than somebody falling off a bridge," Clayton said. "It's nice to have a little fun with opera. Not too many people get to."
Opera is the unique combination of singing, acting, orchestral music and the romance of a foreign language, said Clayton, a graduate student majoring in music.
"For me, it works," she said.
Clayton said like any opera, "Don Pasquale" is a story of thwarted love in which a young widow tries to get her lover to fool his uncle out of his money. The show is family friendly, she said. The opera will be sung in Italian, but if you don't know the language, she said, that's not a problem. She said there will be subtitles so people can understand what is being said.
What makes the UNM Opera Theatre distinctive is that it's a class students can sign up for, Clayton said. Most of the singers and actors in the performance are undergraduate students. She said it is a great opportunity to work with fellow music majors in a professional manner.
It is the building block for their future, she said, teaching them how the art of music and business work together.
"I actually graduated from UNM with my degree in music, so I can definitely speak for them," she said. "It's challenging, but it's also so great to understand what goes on in opera so that they can hone their craft."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
As assistant director and stage manager, Clayton said she has an appreciation for all the work that goes into putting on an opera.
"It's a demanding job," she said. "Anything that's on stage or that's happening off stage, I'm responsible for making sure it gets done."
Clayton also said the UNM Opera Theatre works hand in hand with the UNM Symphony Orchestra, also compromised of undergraduate students.
"It's really great to work with them, because they are going into the professional field of music as well, so we're working toward the same goal," she said.
Another benefit of being an opera singer, Clayton said, is that you get to learn many of the romance languages. She said she more or less knows French based on singing in the language for so long.
"'Don Pasquale' is really sweet and really cute," Clayton said. "We encourage people to come to the opera so that they can learn about it."
"Don Pasquale"
Keller Hall
April 14-16 at 7:30 p.m.
April 17 at 2:30 p.m.
