The Merry Widow three-act opera was an invitation to travel back in time to the city of love, and witness a piece of the lead character Sonia’s love life.
Colorful costumes, zingers and a live orchestra all composed a wonderful show in the Jones auditorium. The Merry Widow was performed at 7:30 p.m. April 27 and 3 p.m. April 28. Each scene was filled with comedy and dynamic energy.
Jones Auditorium echoed with laughter of some of the actors showcased their best French accents, and performed their choreography.
The success and turnout of the opera was inevitable, due to time and effort being invested into the production.
“I have a mixture of emotions. We have been working a lot on this, preparing for over a month and now it’s all disappeared, but I’m so proud of all the students. My favorite part of the opera is seeing how the students grow throughout the course of the production, and seeing them transform into mature musicians, seeing them blossom into their own individual character,” said Dr. Veronica Lopez, conductor of The Merry Widow.
The opera puts on a show every spring, and each year they prepare during the fall semester. The Merry Widow is the story of Sonia, a widow looking to once again get married and the town of Marsovia attempts to persuade Sonia, the protagonist, to marry one of her old Marsovian boyfriends. However, her one true love is in France, and the town is opposed to this marriage.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the closing of Merry Widow. This has been a massive, challenging, heartfelt, joyous production. This was perhaps the easiest cast I’ve ever worked with–engaging, inventive, talented, energetic and professional. The orchestra – led the by magnificent Dr. Lopez, the shows the last two years have completely transformed by adding in these excellent musicians,” said Dr. Melinda Brou, director of The Merry Widow.
The tale had the audience on the edge of their seat as sudden plot twist and love affairs unfolded throughout the opera.
“Of course I would love for it to continue, but overall, the show has brought me so much closer with the cast and made me realize how much I love performing and dancing. You can look forward to seeing me in future operas! Playing Dodo was so fun; especially since my character is supposed to be flirty and seductive as a Grisette. Learning choreography and changing costumes quickly was new for me but I was very happy with how it turned out,” said Erika Lopez, actor in The Merry Widow.
