The School of Music debuted the operetta "Die Fledermaus" in the Morris Cultural Arts Center on Feb. 21.
The operetta, performed Feb. 21-22, was composed by Johann Strauss and conducted by Dr. Brian Runnels, professor in music.
Though originally set in 1890s Germany, the music department made the decision to change the setting to modern-day Houston. The story follows the antics of Gabriel von Eisenstein, who becomes the target of a practical joke played by his friend, Dr. Falke.
The school's greatest challenge in bringing this operetta to stage was providing the funding. For the past several years, the University has provided $7,500 for the project, however budget constraints caused by Hurricane Ike forced the school to seek funding from grants and through fundraising done by the students.
"There was no money for sets or publicity," said Lynda McKnight, director of the operetta and chair of the department of vocal studies.
"The students organized a garage sale and sold T-shirts to raise money. They were innovative and creative to meet the challenge," McKnight said.
Senior Chelsea Hardy, who played Rosalinda in the Feb. 22 cast, served as set crew chief, coordinating stage construction.
"I designed the set and my boyfriend, Eli Dawson constructed it." Dawson is a second year senior majoring in church music.
The final cost of the set was $200 to $300, an amount she described as being phenomenally low.
Sophomore Benjamin Hall, who played Frank for both performances, also contributed to the fundraising.
Hall said he coordinated the garage sale and made sure that everyone was involved in selling ads or getting donations. After collecting the donations, he distributed the funds to those who needed money for costumes, sets, and props. Hall added that he gathered the information that was placed into the program.
Junior Jennifer Mitchell, who played Rosalinda in the Feb. 21 cast, helped with the garage sale.
"It was fun to put my hand in to get the production on track," Mitchell said.
McKnight, who has directed seven university productions, said she has never worked with a group as dedicated as those who worked in this production.
"I've had a really good time this year largely because of their attitude."
Runnels said he was happy that the School of Music is able to work on projects like "Die Fledermaus" because of the experience students obtain.
"Students obviously perform great music, but they also develop abilities in dance acting, costume building, set design and construction, management of multifaceted projects, teamwork, critical thinking and so much more," Runnels said.
Runnels added that these types of productions also contribute to the educational opportunities for other students on campus. This production provided Runnels' Music Appreciation class, who recently had an introduction to opera, an opportunity to see first-hand several of the facets of opera that they learned in class.
Various performance groups from the music department, including the University Singers and the Pep Band, showcased their talents. Also performing was Dr. Melissa Marse, who played a piano solo version of "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gerschwin in Act II.
Hardy said the success of Die Fledermaus in times of such financial adversity gives her great hope for the future of the music department.
"We want the music department to grow as much as possible because right now it could be 10 times as great."
An interview with Chelsea Hardy
Chelsea Hardy is a senior majoring in music performance. Last year, she performed in Mozart's "The Magic Flute." This year, she starred as Rosalinda in the School of Music's most recent production, "Die Fledermaus," a comedic operetta by Johann Strauss, performed in Dunham Theater Feb. 21-22. This interview was conducted in McNair Hall the morning after the final performance.
Dale Meadows: What does the opera mean to you as a performer, and what do you think it means for the University? Chelsea Hardy: For me personally, it's a chance to put another role on my resume, because it's pretty impressive to see Rosalinda, such a huge role, performed by a young person.
For the University, it's a really huge thing because we're such a small music school, and we don't have a lot of funds, especially since Hurricane Ike. So to be able to pull this off with no funds shows that we can really do anything, even a huge show like this.
Meadows: Right, the University is having to make budget cuts everywhere. How did you raise the money to produce "Die Fledermaus?" Hardy: We had a garage sale and invited everybody there to come to the opera, and people showed up. We had great community involvement, and a lot of people attended the performance because of our fund raising.
We had people from University Place across the street come out, and a lot of people from my dad's company showed up as well. There was even this woman whose mother had played Rosalinda 57 years ago. She said it was a little different from the original but she loved it.
Meadows: You moved the setting of the opera from 19th century Germany to present day Houston. Was this a difficult transition? Hardy: It wasn't hard at all tweaking a couple of words. We really didn't have to change any of the plot. And, you know, the whole Opera is about lying, cheating, stealing, etc. I mean, people did it back then, and they do it today, so it was actually a very smooth transition. It was really interesting. Things haven't changed much.
Meadows: How was working with Lynda McKnight and the cast? Hardy: Well, it was interesting. She has a vision. It's hard to see it sometimes, but she does have a vision, and she knows what she's doing.
Organization can be pretty difficult at times, especially when there are so many people involved in the show. We all have our own lives, and Mrs. McKnight has her life, and it's about trying to balance all this. And we're trying to balance school and the opera, which pretty much sucks up your whole life for two months.
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