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Miami University
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"Opera Triple Bill" an evening of music, comedy and drama in three acclaimed productions Nov. 8-10

10/31/2012

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An “Evening of One Act Operas” presented by Miami’s department of music will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 8-10, in Hall Auditorium. The evening will include the operetta “Trial by Jury” by Gilbert and Sullivan and two short operas, “The Face on the Barroom Floor” by Henry Mollicone and “Trouble in Tahiti” by Leonard Bernstein.

The production will feature select voice students from the department of music and members of the Miami University Symphony Orchestra under the music direction of Ricardo Averbach, associate professor of music and conductor of the symphony orchestra, and Jack Liles, professor emeritus of music.

Production design is by Nicholas Muni, field service associate professor of opera and distinguished artist in residence at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. The production is co-directed by Muni and Benjamin Smolder, associate professor of music. Costume design is by Meggan Peters, costume studio supervisor and stage makeup instructor for the department of theatre.

Mari Opatz-Muni is director of the Miami’s opera program.

Miami was recently selected as the national headquarters for the William E. Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition, with Benjamin Smolder named as director.

Music, Comedy and Drama

“Trial by Jury” was composed in 1875 by Gilbert and Sullivan, the “masters of operetta.” An immediate and enduring success among audiences, it is a light-hearted tale of a breach of promise of marriage in which the judge and legal system are objects of satire.

“The Face on the Barroom Floor” was composed by Henry Mollicone in 1978 for the Central City (Colo.) Opera. It is now one of America’s most popular cabaret operas. The plot is about a passionate love triangle based on a tragic legend involving the painting of a woman’s face on the floor of the Teller House Bar in Central City. The face was painted on the barroom’s floor in 1936 by Herndon Davis.

Leonard Bernstein's “Trouble in Tahiti” is a candid look at the troubled marriage of a young suburban couple in the 1950s. (He began composing it while on his honeymoon in 1951). Like his “West Side Story” and “Candide,” Bernstein speaks straight to the heart in this story, with music that is lively, jazzy and “uniquely American.”

The opera production is sponsored in part by the Miami University Special Events Fund and the Miami University Parents Fund.

Tickets, $8 students, $10 seniors and $13 general, are available at the Miami University box office, 523-3200 or www.tickets.muohio.edu.