In Spring 2006, UCF Opera produced two great one act operas:
Click on a title for further information about each project.

A HAND OF BRIDGE

Samuel Barber
 

March 4 and 5

THE IMPRESARIO

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 

March 4 and 5

... and began music preparation for another:

CARMENELLA

Denise Paige Caraher, adapted from music of Georges Bizet

A HAND OF BRIDGE

This short opera-comedy gives us a look into four friends, gathered for their evening bridge game.  As play progresses, each sings an aria expressing their true thoughts.  Sally is not thinking about much except which new hat to buy.  Her husband, Bill, wonders whether Sally knows about his lover Cymbeline and longs to know what she (Cymbeline) is doing.  Geraldine, ignored both by her husband David and by Bill, her former lover, is worried about her dying mother.  Her husband, bitter about his dead-end job, daydreams about what his life would be like if he were as rich as his boss.  As the opera ends, he admits that it would probably not be very different.

 Music by Samuel Barber

Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti

World premiere:   Festival of Two Worlds [Spoleto, Italy] - June 17, 1959

Our cast:

 Geraldine

Emily Ford Coates

 Sally

Theresa Smith

 Bill

Thomas Matthew Hyder

 David

Kyle Waggoner

THE IMPRESARIO

The Impresario [Der Schauspieldirektor] is a one act comedy with music written to a German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie der Jüngere.  Our presentation uses an English translation by Giovanni Cardelli.  The plot of Der Schauspieldirektor mainly concerns the woes of an impresario as he deals with a troupe of performers, especially the feisty prima donnas.

Mozart composed Impresario  between Jan. 18 and Feb. 3, 1786, the same year as his Marriage of Figaro [LE NOZZE DI FIGARO].  Mozart wrote the opera as his entry in a musical competition sponsored by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II at the Schönbrunn palace in Vienna.  The competition was to pit a German singspiel against an Italian opera.  The competing Italian entry was the opera buffa Prima la Musica, poi le Parole (First the Music, then the Words), by Antonio Salieri.

Our cast:

Mr. Scruples, the old-school Impresario

 John Teixeira

Mr. Bluff, his assistant

 Aaron Chilelli

Mr. Angel, a stage-struck financier

 Geoffrey Agpalo and Thomas Matthew Hyder

Madame Goldentrill, an opera star

 Michele Braché and Gloria Rice

Miss Silverpeal, an aspiring opera star

 Samantha Barnes and Brittany Valdini

CARMENELLA

The Cinderella Story set to musical excerpts from Bizet’s CARMEN, but with a bullfighting twist.  The stepsisters, who are gang members, figure out that violence is a no-win proposition and everyone realizes that being yourself and trying to make a positive difference for others makes for a happy ending. The duration of the performance is about 45 minutes.

Our cast:

Carmenella 

Angela Corallo and Theresa Smith

Stepmother 

Samantha Barnes and Michele Braché

Hairy Godmother 

Geoffrey Agpalo

Prince 

John Teixeira and Kyle Waggoner

Esmerelda 

Gloria Rice and Brittany Valdini

Druscilla 

Maria Mathis

Bull 

Aaron Chilelli