OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi departments of Music and Theatre Arts are collaborating to present an evening of laughter and tears, courtesy of the Italian master composer Giacomo Puccini, later this month.
The UM Opera Theatre production runs April 22-25 in Meek Hall Auditorium. Showtimes are 8 p.m. April 22-24, with a matinee at 3 p.m. April 25. Tickets are $15 for adults, $8.50 for children and seniors, and $10 for UM students with valid IDs. They are available at the UM Box Office in the Student Union or by calling 662-915-7411.
“Beautiful music, sung beautifully in an evening that includes tragedy and comedy,” said Julia Aubrey, director of Opera Theatre. “A great classy date opportunity!”
“Suor Angelica,” a one-act tragedy set in a convent near Siena, Italy, will be sung in Italian. The opera is about a woman who takes the name Angelica when she enters the convent after being banished from her royal family for bearing an illegitimate child.
The drama reaches a high point when her aunt, the princess, visits after seven years of silence.
“Gianni Schicchi,” a one-act comedy set in Florence, is notable for its famous aria, “O mio babbino caro” (Oh my dear papa). The story, told in English, focuses on the greedy Donati family, which has just lost rich old Uncle Buoso, who owned much of Tuscany, including the mansion where relatives have come to see him. Rinuccio, a sharp-witted nephew, realizes that all Buoso’s possessions will be given to the friars at a monastery unless he can convince the crafty father of his intended, Gianni Schicchi, to concoct a scheme to save his inheritance.
“The students have been working on their parts for many weeks, and though the music is challenging, they love these two Puccini one-act operas,” Aubrey said.
For more information about the production, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/