WKU putting on classic By Alicia Carmichael, acarmichael@bgdailynews.com — 270-783-3234

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Today through Sunday, the Western Kentucky University departments of music, theater and dance will stage Gilbert and Sullivans 12th opera, the light-hearted The Gondoliers, which is also known as The King of Barataria.

It will be the perfect opportunity for those whove never been to an opera to experience the genre, say many associated with the production.

Ive been telling all my friends, if youve never seen an opera before, this is the opera to see, said Bronson Murphy, a WKU freshman who plays the character of Luiz. Theres no wailing sopranos and nobody dies. This has a happy ending. But its kind of a surprise ending.

In addition, the opera is in English.

Its also fun and comedic, said Ruby Lewis, a freshman who plays Casilda.

According to Scott Stroot, head of the theater and dance department, the opera is about two recently married Venetian gondoliers who learn that one of them though they dont know which has inherited the throne of Barataria.

And to further complicate matters, whoever does turn out to be the king must by royal decree marry Casilda, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, a fact of some understandable concern to the gondoliers new brides, Stroot wrote in an e-mail to the Daily News.

Eventually, the men decide to rule Barataria together until the mess can be worked out. A plot twist goes on to reveal secret identities, and it is discovered that neither gondolier is really the king after all, Stroot said.

Junior Sarah Isom said she loves playing the Duchess of Plaza-Toro, who with her husband is running out of money and is looking forward to her daughter being able to marry the king.

Its an incredibly well-written operetta, so I think (the audience will) enjoy the whole thing, she said.

Lewis said she enjoys playing Casilda, who is one of nine leads in the opera.

The music is great, very catchy, she said. An audience will be singing it the whole night. And the set is amazing. And the costumes are elaborate. The makeup is incredible. Just the spectacle of it will be appealing to an audience.

Stroot said an orchestra directed by Bowling Green Western Symphony Orchestra Conductor William Scott will accompany student singers.

The original Gilbert and Sullivan production opened at the Savoy Theatre in London on Dec. 7, 1889, according to Stroot. It ran for 554 performances and proved to be the last of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas to reach the sort of wide popularity they had been accustomed to with works such as The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore.

The Western production will open in the Russell H. Miller Theatre of the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center at 8 p.m. today, with additional performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

All tickets are $8 and may be bought at the door, or in advance by calling 745-3121.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700