Ancient story full of emotion, talent

By Kristina Chiapella

A tragic queen, a pious warrior and sophisticated singing will rule the Fess Parker Studio Theatre this weekend, as Santa Clara brings to life the ancient story of Dido and Aeneas in the form of an opera.

With eight leads, a chorus of 11 singers and an ensemble of 13 live musicians from the university orchestra, the show will be the result of a united effort by student and faculty members.

"This is the first time in recent years that there's been such a collaboration between the music department and the theatre and dance department," said Kristin Kusanovich, choreography director. "It's really a collage of many different elements coming together."

Almost every scene of the opera has some choreography, and three dances will be performed by a quartet of dancers, adding movement throughout the show.

Staying true to the original written by Henry Purcell in the 17th century, the story is based on a story from Virgil's "The Aeneid," in which Dido, queen of Carthage, is struck by cupid's arrow and falls in love with Aeneas, a war hero of the fallen Troy. Yet the gods have other plans for Aeneas, and their love is fated for tragedy.

Angela Harrington, a senior music major who will play the leading role of Dido, said that the role allows her to take on a different identity onstage. "In opera, we have the distinct joy of playing great war heroes and tragic queens of ancient civilizations," she said.

Junior Jayce Kaiser never thought he would be playing a leading role like that of the hero Aeneas. "In high school, I started singing just to get the performing arts credit; I didn't really care for it at all," said Kaiser. "My teacher told me to stick with it, so I did throughout school." Here at Santa Clara, Kaiser takes voice lessons and played leading roles in last year's opera and the musical "Once on this Island."

Both leads anticipate singing the part of the tragic lovers. "My favorite part of the opera is Act III," said Harrington, "when Aeneas announces to Dido his intention to go to Italy, abandoning her for an empire promised to him by the gods."

The scene is dramatic, and the theme is timeless, agreed Kaiser. "You really get to see the arguments between the two, and a beautiful duet as the two finally say goodbye to each other. It's pretty sick."

This year is the first time that the annual opera will be performed in the Fess Parker Studio Theatre. Much smaller than Mayer Theatre, audiences will experience a very intimate view of opera and its dynamic characters.

The directors realize that opera can be challenging in that people tend to think they're not going to be able to understand it. But not to worry -- "It's in English, so people should be able to get the story from our lyrics, granted they can understand it through all of our singing," said Kaiser.

And with the emotional intensity of the plot, audiences should be able to grasp the meaning. "I think the staging, dancing and acting helps the audience understand the story, even if they don't understand every single word," said Kusanovich.

Opera is arguably the hardest art form to perform because the singing is so difficult and takes such mastery. "The voice is such a delicate and sensitive instrument," said Kusanovich. "Opera has all the difficulties of dance, theatre and music together."

To master all of these elements, the cast has been practicing for up to 13 hours a week this quarter.

"Opera is a heightened form of expression in performance," said stage director Mark Larson. "It enables us to reach ideas and emotions that we cannot get to through the spoken word or dance."

"Dido & Aeneas" will be performed Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students, and the show has a 75-minute running time.

"There's been a really great energy around the production," said Kusanovich. "It's an exciting, dynamic production and as theatrical as an opera should be." Hopefully, she said, the audience will take from the show the talent of the students, the experience of the beautiful music and the tragic story.

Contact Kristina Chiapella at (408) 551-1918 or kchiapella@scu.edu.