INFORMATION FOR
Music students at William Paterson University will present a triple bill of operas—Dover Beach by Samuel Barber, Lost in the Scroll by Luca Sutto, and H & G: A Great and Terrible Story by Allen Shawn—from April 11 to 23 in the Hunziker Black Box Theatre on campus.
The three musical works are of varying themes and lengths. “On the surface, they are unrelated, but when you probe deeper, you can see the relationship between them,” says Christopher Herbert, vocal area coordinator, associate professor of music, and director and producer of the shows. “Our students are doing excellent work to bring these works to life, and I look forward to welcoming audiences to the show.”
Dover Beach, a work by the 20th century American composer Samuel Barber for baritone and string quartet, is based on a poem by Matthew Arnold. Featuring Owen Gavigan of Hillsborough as the narrator, the work, set in the 19th century, focuses on the narrator’s internal struggles with the ever-changing beliefs and conflicts that occur daily.
Lost in the Scroll, a one-act comic opera by Luca Sutto, explores a modern-day challenge: the distraction of a smartphone and its comments. Scored for three voices and a string quartet, the work features Grace Cascio of Delran as Penny, who works for a big corporation and needs to finish a report by end of the day but finds herself distracted by her phone. The physical representation of her notifications are portrayed by Koushani Gupta, an international student from India, and Austin Sidito of Holbrook, NY.
The third work, H & G: A Great and Terrible Story by Allen Shawn, follows the same events as the classic fable Hansel and Gretel, and reveals the dark side of these beloved characters as they explore their feelings of abandonment by their parents and the trauma induced by the Witch. The main characters “H” (Hansel) and “G” (Gretel) are played by Damian Castañeda-Chamberlain of Shrewsbury and Virginia Lackey of Waldwick, respectively. Other performers include Ollie Johnson, a junior music education major, as the Witch, Owen Gavigan as the Father, and Spencer Serritella of Nutley as the Singer. Alongside them is an ensemble of “feral children,” all portrayed by William Paterson students.
Hannah Comia ’19, an adjunct professor of piano and voice at William Paterson, serves as musical director for the production.
Performances will be presented on April 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m., and April 13 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 for the general public and $10 for students and members of the WP community. For tickets, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the box office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
