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Show Arts & Entertainment Opera class puts on spooky show 4 MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011 THE SIGNPOST Class compiles scenes from ghostly operas By Kory Wood a&e editor I The Signpost Members of the Weber State University opera production class ran around the room frantically, sorting through loose papers, while a dead body lay in the middle of the bedlam. They were preparing for the closing number of this week's Opera Production Scenes, which will be held Friday and Saturday in the Browning Center's Allred Theater. All of the scenes, according to WSU voice teacher and opera class costume designer Linda Lee, have a spooky slant in honor of Halloween. "It's more of the macabre, Jack-the-Ripper-type settings," Lee said. "Spirits are in the theater, haunting. And then we've got little spirits that are singing. It's not so much spooky as it is normal life, where things just go `bump' in the night." Lee designs costumes for all the opera shows, and because this performance is composed of several scenes from different operas, some members of the cast have four or five costume changes. "Some of the costumes we're using from the past, because PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University Opera Productions students look over the will of their deceased Uncle Buoso in a scene from Gianni Schicchi. The students are putting on several scenes from operas and musicals with ghostly themes, with two performances running Friday and Saturday night. these time periods pop up frequently in shows," Lee said. "I'm repurposing, because it's a a lot of time, and it's an expense." The opera production class puts on a full-length opera every other year. Last year's production was Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. For the weekend's show, scenes will be compiled from several different operas with themes of haunting, murder and spirits, including The Medium, Hansel and Gretel, Falstaff The Magic Flute and Gianni Schicchi. Scenes from a few dark musicals, like The Secret Garden and Jekyll and Hyde, will also be included. See Opera page E WSU jazz band plays WSU choirs sing "lights out" more modern music Two songs debuted in WSU show By Briana Drandakis a&e reporter I The Signpost PHOTO BY CHELSEA GREEN I THE SIGNPOST Band director calls ensemble "the best band in years" By Chelsea Green "That really did not give correspondent I The Signpost us a lot of time to practice," The WSU Jazz Ensemble mixed upbeat jazz and Latin music for its Mondaynight performance put on by the department of performing arts. "This is one of the best bands I have ever had at WSU," said Don Keipp, professor and director of the band at WSU. "For this concert, I wanted to pick fun charts that are fun to play for my band and entertaining for the audience to listen to." The Jazz Ensemble practices three days a week for an hour each day and features only student performers. said Bobby Gilgert, a senior and drummer for the Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo, a smaller group made up of just drums, piano and bass, at WSU. Gilgert also anchors the rhythm section of the group, which consists of piano, bass and drums. "We have to practice a lot on our own time as well." One of the selections performed was Horace Silver's "Sister Sadie." This selection was performed by the GRP Big Band, a group that performed in the late 1980s. The GRP was a full band that played mostly well-known jazz pieces See Jazz page 8 The Browning Center was filled with the sound of choral music as Weber State University's performing arts department presented the Fall Choirfest Wednesday night. The WSU Concert Choir and WSU Chamber Choir were conducted by Mark Henderson, professor of choral studies, and the Concert Choir was also guided by student assistant director Rawson Butts. This concert was also the debut performance of a piece called "The Lamb," which Butts composed around the famous William Blake poem. "If you're out there in the choir and make a mistake, everyone doesn't know," Butts said. "But, if you make a mistake when you're directing, everyone does." He said he believed the choirs performed well during the concert and that they were incredibly responsive to conducting throughout the night. "Conducting is about communicating," Butts said. "The conductor interprets the music, and the choir must be able to cornmunicate the way he interprets it so that they can give that interpretation to the audience." Lucinda Langley, an alto member of the Concert Choir, said she enjoyed PHOTO BY CRYSTAL CHARRIERE I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University Concert Choir members Ashlie Barton (left) and Melissa Smith (right) warm up before their concert Wednesday night. Both students are freshmen. performing in the show because of the variety of styles the choir sang. "I really enjoy the satisfactory feeling you get just after a performance," Langley said. "I feel I worked for this. We did well, and I think I sounded better than I did the last performance." Butts said he holds a lot of reverence for his own choir director, Henderson, and wishes to use Henderson as a role model when running his own choirs in the future. Henderson debuted an original piece during the Choirfest as well, titled "A Light Exists in Spring," which was per- formed by the Chamber Choir, a smaller group of about 30 members. The WSU choirs shared the stage with some highschool hopefuls, as Northridge High School's Excalibur Choir and its director, Jermay Marden, were the special guests for the night. See Choir page 8 |