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ALL-SCHOOL PRODUCTION; SPRING OPERA IN PREVIEW Once a year, all departments of the school get together to join efforts in an all school production. The result is always the grandest showing of talent in which all departments collec tively participate. Past shows have been the King and I, and Guys and Dolls. This year, an opera has been set for the annual spring-time event. The opera is by our own Chancellor, Robert Ward. He Who Gets Slapped, Pantaloon was written by Ward in the mid-50’s, before his Pulitzer prize winning opera. The Crucible. William Dryer, who will be stage director for the opera, recently gave the Essay some of the inside facts. The opera is based on a play by Andreyev, bearing the same title. The libretto follows the original plot with only slight deviations. In the third act, the original calls for a tragic en ding, whereas Robert Ward has supplied us with his own en ding. During the premier performance of the opera Andreyev’s son was present and was reportedly not too pleased with the change. The action takes place generally in the backstage area of a Paris circus, around 1910. Bill Dryer volunteered a thumbnail sketch of the story, “A middle-aged dropout (Pantaloon) becomes a circus clown...” As for the cast, something new is being introduced this year. Faculty and students are casted for the major roles. There are several reasons for this. The main reason in selecting two faculty members is that the roles are too demanding for a voice that is not fully mature. However, all roles have understudies, and the understudies will perform at least once. The cast is as follows: Louis Turner - Count Mancini Bill Williams - Briquet Renee Evans - Conselo Jim Hoback - Bezano Faculty members: Janice Harsany - Zinida Bill Beck - Pantaloon Understudies: Steve Woodbury - Briquet Donna Stevenson - Zinida Neal Schwantes - Pantaloon Lunda Austin - Conselo There will also be a chorus of about 35 John Sneden will design the sets and Maureen Trotto will design the costumes. Special research is being conducted to come up with true period circus costumes. As with all productions, there are some difficulties. Dryer discussed one of these. He stated: “There’s a place in the opera where Pantaloon has an intimate scene. The script doesn’t call for any change of scenery.” Dryer wants the scene to be separate from the action on the set. When we talked with him, the solution wasn’t known yet. Pantaloon is a “true American opera”, lighter than German opera, but not as tuneful as the Italian type. Upon listening to a tape of a previous performance. Dryer commented that the applause was very, very enthusiastic. Dryer also mentioned that the opera has never been per formed to Ward’s full satisfaction. The first performance was by the Columbia Theatre Associates of the School of Dramatic Ajts in cooperation with the Columbia University Opera Workshop. Its date was May 17, 1956, in the Julliard Concert Hall. A second performance was by the New York City Opera Company on April 29, 1959. Dryer said that Ward has been instrumental in the production of this work. During one production, the director died before the completion of the third act. Ward was left to direct the remainder. We asked both Dryer and musical director Norman Johnson, if they thought the word “opera” would scare away some of the usual all-school production audience. Both felt that the opera would be a success for the public and for the school. The per formances are scheduled for April 13 and 14, both at Reynolds Auditorium. There is also a possibility of a matinee per formance. In closing. Dryer remarked: “It’s musically very soi^isticated...what NCSA should be doing all along. I’m very excited about the combination of mature voices (faculty) and students performing on the same stage. Working with people Hike Harsanyi, Johnson and Beck is also very exciting.” -Mark Cedel
N.C. Essay (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Feb. 1, 1973, edition 1
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