Show is a must-see for opera first-timers

Opera isn’t just for men with monocles and women in ball gowns, but also for college students in tattered jeans.

The UNM Opera Theatre will put on “Dangerous Liaisons,” its semiannual performance at Keller Hall. The weekend-long act will feature one scene from five operas.

Co-director Leslie Umphrey said each scene projects a unique mood.
“We have a couple comedies, then we have very dark and tragic opera,” she said. “I think this is such a cool show to go to if you’ve never been to an opera because it’s got a little bit of everything.”

Everything from a scene in “The Tales of Hoffman” and “The Marriage of Figaro,” to “Die Fledermaus,” “Idomeneo” and “Madama Butterfly.”

Virginia Slater, playing Madama Butterfly, said opera is viewed as stuffy and inaccessible to general audiences. She said plot knowledge is required to enjoy opera.

“If they have any interest in music at all, even if they don’t fancy themselves someone who likes classical music, I think they can still appreciate how high quality it is,” she said. “Everyone on there is an expert of what they’re doing in that moment.”

Co-director Sam Shepperson said the scenes carry the audience from brothels in “The Tales of Hoffman” to the streets of Nagasaki in “Madama Butterfly.” He said the ornate costumes and well-crafted musical numbers enhance the already-dramatic moments in the play.

“Opera is about the music, and the voices, and the costumes, and the set, and the movement, and the acting, and then when you add an orchestra, it’s about watching the conductor coordinating all of those things,” Shepperson said. “That’s why I think it’s the hardest art form that there is.”

The 19 student parts were cast at the end of last semester, and students were required to translate and memorize their part over winter break.
Matthew Amend, playing Alfredo in “Die Fledermaus,” said that the work that goes into the performance pays in the end.

“What happens is every now and again, I’ll have a performance where you just have this tiny moment where you’re 100 percent immersed in what you’re doing and what you’re saying, and the audience is there with you,” he said.

Umphrey said opera requires depth and breadth of emotion. She said this weekend’s show will be memorable because it draws from various genres.

“It’s a very visceral experience,” she said. “You’ll hear these pieces, and you will be moved, because in particular, when you’re watching the singers on stage, if they’re doing their job and they look committed, they’re going to communicate something emotional in them.”

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“Dangerous Liasons”
Keller Hall
Center for the Arts
Friday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
$4 students
$6 seniors
$8 general*