Opera Workshop takes on Ballad Opera

Opera Workshop presented scenes from three ballad operas this past weekend as part of its fall semester course. Opera Workshop has two performances per academic year to help students learn the history, techniques and styles of opera. 

Unlike other ensembles, which are purely performance-based, Opera Workshop takes an academic focus. In the fall semester, students learn a particular style of opera and its history. In the spring, they focus on opera production, performing a full operetta.  

Autumn Griffin photos

Students perform and learn ballads at the Opera Workshop. This workshop took place on Friday and Saturday of last week.

“I wanted something this semester that was originally in English,” said the Director of Opera Workshop Dr. Sarah Wee. “Often, we’ll do things in other languages, and we do the translated version, but I wanted to find something that was in the original language.  

“I never pick an opera until I know who I have in the cast.” 

This fall, Wee chose to focus on Ballad Operas. Ballad Operas align more with modern musical theatre, mixing spoken dialogue with song, unlike other styles of opera, which are sung all the way through. 

Ballad Operas are often satirical and comedic in tone. This style of opera was popularized by John Gay’s “Beggar’s Opera,” which was one of the selected excerpts for the performance. Along with “Beggar’s Opera,” the cast performed Stephan Sorace’s “No Song, No Supper” and Thomas Arne’s “Love in a Village.”  

Each student had a defining role in the selected operas. Students took on satirical scenes involving marital affairs, love triangles and betrothal.  

“I’ve never acted or sung in the past,” said Dorian Cruz, a freshman instrumental music education major from Lakeland, Alabama, who played Captain Macheath in “Beggar’s Opera.” “But for me, it’s important for my education because for many schools you have to teach theatre and choir, so knowing these things, especially in such niche areas, is important so I can give my students exactly what they need.” 

Students were able to develop their operatic singing and work with the characters they were assigned. In the fall, they learn the basics of acting and style, while the spring helps them focus on copyright laws, making props and performing a full-length opera. 

“In the spring, we do a full show,” said Tori Hinson, a junior choral music education major from Streamwood, Illinois, who played Polly Peachum in “Beggar’s Opera.” “Those who are in an ensemble have freedom to build their character into what they want it to look like within the world of that operetta.” 

In the spring, Opera Workshop will be performing a full Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta. More details about the specific operetta will be announced next semester.