The dancers cast in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the spring musical presented by the UL Opera Theatre, have been announced. They are Kristina Doiron, Courtney Scott, Rebecca LaFleur, Katie Parris, and Ashley Arnold. Melinda Caubarreaux is the choreographer.
The show will open in March.
Showing posts with label UL Opera Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UL Opera Theatre. Show all posts
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Theatre--Weekend
This weekend features the continuation of Life is a Dream (AUI at Cite Des Arts). There are also more auditions. The UL-Lafayette Opera Theatre has a second day of auditions for The Mystery of Edwin Drood on Friday (with a special dance audition following the singer/actor audition), and Jim Phillips and Christy Leichty are holding auditions for The Lawyer Who Stopped Talking at Cite Sunday afternoon.
Support local theatre--come see a show or audition for one!
Support local theatre--come see a show or audition for one!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Opera--Performance (Setting the Scene)
Photographs from the UL-Lafayette Opera Theatre production of Setting the Scene, which took place on November 23rd.
The cast of Setting the Scene
Jared Price, Kevin Credeur and Nathan Robert Abbott
Kevin Credeur, Nathan Robert Abbott (standing) and Jared Price
Shawn Roy and Lana Hebert Carver
Carolyn Broussard, Jennifer Andrews, Lana Hebert Carver
Jenee Luquette and Kevin Credeur
Angie Prejean, Brian Sanford, Alex Katherine Hollerman, Kevin Credeur, Carolyn Broussard, Nathan Robert Abbott
Carolyn Broussard, Alex Katherine Hollerman
Lana Hebert Carver, Nathan Robert Abbott, Jennifer Andrews
Friday, July 24, 2009
Theatre--Review
Ray Blum has reviewed Old Wicked Songs, a UL-Lafayette Opera Theatreproduction, in the Friday, July 24th edition of the Daily Advertiser.
(Note: The broken link has been fixed, I think.)
(Note: The broken link has been fixed, I think.)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Opera--Performance
The UL Opera Theatre has completed the audition process and announced the cast for the spring 2009 production of The Marriage of Figaro. The cast is:
Susanna - Stacy Broussard
Figaro - Brian Sanford
Countess - Sasha Massey
Count - Nathan Abbott
Cherubino - Jessica Wiltz
Basilio/Don Curzio - Kevin Credeur
Bartolo - Ben Sellers
Marcellina - Lindy Waldmeier/Carolyn Broussard
Antonio - Nicholas Manzo/Jonah Slason
Barbarina - Angela Prejean/Jenee Luquette
Conductor - Mariusz Smolij
Director - Shawn Roy
accompanied by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra
Susanna - Stacy Broussard
Figaro - Brian Sanford
Countess - Sasha Massey
Count - Nathan Abbott
Cherubino - Jessica Wiltz
Basilio/Don Curzio - Kevin Credeur
Bartolo - Ben Sellers
Marcellina - Lindy Waldmeier/Carolyn Broussard
Antonio - Nicholas Manzo/Jonah Slason
Barbarina - Angela Prejean/Jenee Luquette
Conductor - Mariusz Smolij
Director - Shawn Roy
accompanied by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra
The opera will be performed at Angelle Hall on the UL-Lafayette campus on Thursday (April 30th), Saturday (May 2nd) and Sunday (May 3rd).
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Opera--Performance
The Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and the UL-Lafayette Opera Theatre have announced their joint production of The Marriage of Figaro. Dates for the performances are April 30th (7:30 pm), May 2nd (7:30 pm) and May 3rd (tentatively scheduled at 3 pm). The May 3rd production will feature the student cast. There will also be 2 performances for area schools on May 1st (at 9 am and 11 am). The opera will be performed in English and directed by Shawn Roy and conducted by Maiusz Smolij accompanied by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra.
All performances will be at Angelle Hall's Ducrest-Gilchrist Auditorium on the UL-Lafayette campus. Tickets can be purchased from the Acadiana Syphony (412 Travis Street in the Oil Center).
All performances will be at Angelle Hall's Ducrest-Gilchrist Auditorium on the UL-Lafayette campus. Tickets can be purchased from the Acadiana Syphony (412 Travis Street in the Oil Center).
Friday, October 17, 2008
Theatre--Review (UL-Lafayette Opera Theatre)
Ray Blum reviews the UL-Lafayette Opera Theatre production of Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know in the October 17th edition of the Daily Advertiser.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Theatre--Review (UL-Lafayette Opera Theatre)
Secrets Every Traveler Should Know is inspired by the Fodor travel guide of the same title. This revue, which ran for 900 performances on Broadway, is packed with useful information and suggestions. Uzbekistan is a place to get away from it all--from it ALL. You can have a hot time in Martinique. The William Morris Travel Agency will do for your travel plans what is has done for Paris Hilton's career plans. Dark pleasures and heartaches await those intrepid enough to actually wait for the next operator.
Originally performed with only four actors and a small combo, this production has expanded the cast to 14 singers and dancers accompanied by a piano and bass. This presents no problems and creates the opportunity to see an additional ten talented young people on the stage. Although not all of the performers are Vocal Arts majors, all of them have experience singing and dancing on stage. It shows. The clever lyrics are clearly enunciated and the dances are fun to watch. There is even an audience participation line dance taught by the cast at the end of the intermission!
A revue is just a collection of skits, songs and dances, usually humorous and satirical. Secrets is genuinely funny and the cast has a wonderful time presenting the material. It would be hard to pick a favorite performer although Jared LeBlanc has "star" written all over him. Martha and Ruth Diaz and Jenee Luquette are perfect as Barbie Doll stewardesses. Sasha Massey is a torch-singing Carol Burnett. Nick Manzo brought the house down with a rubber glove. Kristina Marshall can dominate a stage just standing there--although she does considerably more than that in a Carmen-Miranda getup backed by a male chorus right out of Vegas. Lindy Waldmeier is a martini-swilling beauty on a cruise to ennui with Brandon Breaux who may be the incarnation of Noel Coward's id. Evan Melancon can milk an audience sleeping in a chair! Nathan Abbot brings Rat Pack savoir-faire to a scene about what we leave behind when we leave home. Kevin Credeur looks like Ratso Rizzo as he sweats through customs. Alex Hollerman is a hoot as a small-town girl with a big city heartache who has a bus ticket and isn't afraid to use it. Stacy Broussard shows us why Star Search will never go out of fashion.
The whole cast just sparkles playing a variety of characters in the thirty or so songs and skits. Music Director/Pianist Marcus McCullough gets some great lines in a salute to the Salzburg Mozart Festival. Marcus is worth watching anyway. This man lives his music. He also has the best musical joke in the show as he tries to extricate himself from the last few bars of a Mozart concerto. Robert Nash, on bass, has some great expressions.
The costumes are witty, especially the stewardess outfits and the costume for NAKED IN PITTSBURGH which was a clear audience favorite. HOT LAVA puts the emphasis on HOT. I have to say it was my favorite number for staging, costume, performance and all-round pizzazz. But really, any number would be someone's favorite and they all deserve it. Check out Ruth Diaz and Evan Melancon in orthotic devices singing and dancing like Astaire and Rogers--in body casts. What's not to love?
Small pieces moving on and off the stage combined with a clever backdrop let the show move along smoothly and quickly and supply all the visual reference we need. Sound and lights are smooth.
You could see a production of this show that spent more money, but you won't see a better production.
Smart Traveler Secret # 100--This show is about to close. Catch it tonight. Secret #101--Director Shawn Roy is a local treasure. Tell him so.
Secret #120--The acoustics in the room are fine unless you sit right next to the piano, as I did. Leave a little space so that you can hear the singers better. The show is not amplified so the singers have to hold their own with the musicians. They can and do, but they're more successful when they are closer to the audience than the musicians are.
---Walter Brown
Originally performed with only four actors and a small combo, this production has expanded the cast to 14 singers and dancers accompanied by a piano and bass. This presents no problems and creates the opportunity to see an additional ten talented young people on the stage. Although not all of the performers are Vocal Arts majors, all of them have experience singing and dancing on stage. It shows. The clever lyrics are clearly enunciated and the dances are fun to watch. There is even an audience participation line dance taught by the cast at the end of the intermission!
A revue is just a collection of skits, songs and dances, usually humorous and satirical. Secrets is genuinely funny and the cast has a wonderful time presenting the material. It would be hard to pick a favorite performer although Jared LeBlanc has "star" written all over him. Martha and Ruth Diaz and Jenee Luquette are perfect as Barbie Doll stewardesses. Sasha Massey is a torch-singing Carol Burnett. Nick Manzo brought the house down with a rubber glove. Kristina Marshall can dominate a stage just standing there--although she does considerably more than that in a Carmen-Miranda getup backed by a male chorus right out of Vegas. Lindy Waldmeier is a martini-swilling beauty on a cruise to ennui with Brandon Breaux who may be the incarnation of Noel Coward's id. Evan Melancon can milk an audience sleeping in a chair! Nathan Abbot brings Rat Pack savoir-faire to a scene about what we leave behind when we leave home. Kevin Credeur looks like Ratso Rizzo as he sweats through customs. Alex Hollerman is a hoot as a small-town girl with a big city heartache who has a bus ticket and isn't afraid to use it. Stacy Broussard shows us why Star Search will never go out of fashion.
The whole cast just sparkles playing a variety of characters in the thirty or so songs and skits. Music Director/Pianist Marcus McCullough gets some great lines in a salute to the Salzburg Mozart Festival. Marcus is worth watching anyway. This man lives his music. He also has the best musical joke in the show as he tries to extricate himself from the last few bars of a Mozart concerto. Robert Nash, on bass, has some great expressions.
The costumes are witty, especially the stewardess outfits and the costume for NAKED IN PITTSBURGH which was a clear audience favorite. HOT LAVA puts the emphasis on HOT. I have to say it was my favorite number for staging, costume, performance and all-round pizzazz. But really, any number would be someone's favorite and they all deserve it. Check out Ruth Diaz and Evan Melancon in orthotic devices singing and dancing like Astaire and Rogers--in body casts. What's not to love?
Small pieces moving on and off the stage combined with a clever backdrop let the show move along smoothly and quickly and supply all the visual reference we need. Sound and lights are smooth.
You could see a production of this show that spent more money, but you won't see a better production.
Smart Traveler Secret # 100--This show is about to close. Catch it tonight. Secret #101--Director Shawn Roy is a local treasure. Tell him so.
Secret #120--The acoustics in the room are fine unless you sit right next to the piano, as I did. Leave a little space so that you can hear the singers better. The show is not amplified so the singers have to hold their own with the musicians. They can and do, but they're more successful when they are closer to the audience than the musicians are.
---Walter Brown
Friday, October 10, 2008
Theatre--Review (UL- Lafayette Opera theare)
Don’t miss the boat! Secrets Every Traveler Should Know, the UL- Lafayette Opera Theater Guild’s presentation at Fletcher Hall, is a winner. Full of humor, great music, enthusiastic performances, and recalling Everyman’s travel experiences, it provides two hours of pure fun, joy and pleasure! Based on Wendy Perrin’s Fodor travel guide of the same name, it presents in song, dance and skit the mishaps, pitfalls, and pleasures every traveler has experienced … whether by plane, boat or bus. It also deals with a few “closer to home” experiences.
A “Revue,” rather than proper “book musical,” Secrets presents a series of vignettes related to travel and travelers. There are the archetypal stewardess types, car rental agents, customs officials, and of course tourists--tourists who have lost their luggage, tourists seeing America first, tourists with “Montezuma’s Revenge,” tourists at the buffet. A running joke everyone in the audience will identify with is the frustrated customer on the other end of an automated service call. Whether dealing with a travel agent or a credit card company, everyone can empathize with the man trying, and trying, and trying to get a hold of a live person! The music ranges from Latin dance numbers (two of them), to a French cabaret song, to a take-off (pun intended) on the Salzburg Music Festival. Much of the music, though, reminds one of what might have been heard in the nightclubs in Vegas, New York, or maybe Monte Carlo in the 60’s and 70’s. With songs and sketches by a group of thirteen writers, the show is hip, nostalgic, irreverent and clever. There is never a dull moment.
In a traditional musical, one has the luxury of meeting and following the characters. By my count over sixty “characters” are introduced to the audience during this show. And the cast numbers but fourteen! Let’s see, my travel computer tells me that’s about 4 characters per cast member! And every character was distinct, every one was perfect. Through marvelous costuming, a quick-change set, and outstanding acting we meet ‘em all. (Hey, if you travelled you met ‘em all and maybe even did it all before!). The singing is outstanding, as is par for a Shawn Roy production. Whether in individual numbers, duets, or choral singing, every (unmiked) word and note were crystal clear! In this show even the pianist had lines, and both pianist and bassist had a costume change. And the audience, well, at one point half of them were dancing on the stage. It was that much fun!
A revue, by definition, is a true ensemble endeavor, so I won’t even attempt to pick out the best among them. I had my favorites, and others had theirs. Suffice it to say that every one of these performers was wonderful. Ranging from college graduates, to current UL students, to community members, these fourteen young performers would make anyone proud they are in our area!
The finale of both the first and second act is the song “See It Now.” And you better! The remaining performances are Friday and Saturday night (October 10, 11 at 7:30 p.m.) and Saturday and Sunday Matinees (October 11 and 12 at 3:00 p.m.). Tickets are only available at the door. Don’t miss the boat! You’ll regret it.
---Donald Voorhies
A “Revue,” rather than proper “book musical,” Secrets presents a series of vignettes related to travel and travelers. There are the archetypal stewardess types, car rental agents, customs officials, and of course tourists--tourists who have lost their luggage, tourists seeing America first, tourists with “Montezuma’s Revenge,” tourists at the buffet. A running joke everyone in the audience will identify with is the frustrated customer on the other end of an automated service call. Whether dealing with a travel agent or a credit card company, everyone can empathize with the man trying, and trying, and trying to get a hold of a live person! The music ranges from Latin dance numbers (two of them), to a French cabaret song, to a take-off (pun intended) on the Salzburg Music Festival. Much of the music, though, reminds one of what might have been heard in the nightclubs in Vegas, New York, or maybe Monte Carlo in the 60’s and 70’s. With songs and sketches by a group of thirteen writers, the show is hip, nostalgic, irreverent and clever. There is never a dull moment.
In a traditional musical, one has the luxury of meeting and following the characters. By my count over sixty “characters” are introduced to the audience during this show. And the cast numbers but fourteen! Let’s see, my travel computer tells me that’s about 4 characters per cast member! And every character was distinct, every one was perfect. Through marvelous costuming, a quick-change set, and outstanding acting we meet ‘em all. (Hey, if you travelled you met ‘em all and maybe even did it all before!). The singing is outstanding, as is par for a Shawn Roy production. Whether in individual numbers, duets, or choral singing, every (unmiked) word and note were crystal clear! In this show even the pianist had lines, and both pianist and bassist had a costume change. And the audience, well, at one point half of them were dancing on the stage. It was that much fun!
A revue, by definition, is a true ensemble endeavor, so I won’t even attempt to pick out the best among them. I had my favorites, and others had theirs. Suffice it to say that every one of these performers was wonderful. Ranging from college graduates, to current UL students, to community members, these fourteen young performers would make anyone proud they are in our area!
The finale of both the first and second act is the song “See It Now.” And you better! The remaining performances are Friday and Saturday night (October 10, 11 at 7:30 p.m.) and Saturday and Sunday Matinees (October 11 and 12 at 3:00 p.m.). Tickets are only available at the door. Don’t miss the boat! You’ll regret it.
---Donald Voorhies
Monday, October 6, 2008
Theatre-Performance
The UL Opera Theatre production of Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know opens Thursday, October 9th at 7:30 pm. Performances will be Thursday, October 9th; Friday, October 10th and Saturday, October 11th at 7:30 pm. There will also be 2 matinees: Saturday, October 11th and Sunday, October 12th at 3 pm.
Tickets are available only at the door. For more information, call 482-6012.
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