March 2, 2023
'Cendrillon,' a Cinderella opera, opens tonight
Submitted by the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
"Cendrillon" by Pauline Garcia Viardot continues the K-State Theatre season focused on female voices in the arts and opens tonight, Thursday, March 2, through Sunday, March 5, on the Chapman Stage in Nichols Hall.
"Cendrillon" is an opera based on the Cinderella story sung in English as translated by Rachel M. Harris with orchestrations by Charles Effler. Viardot composed this piece, which premiered in 1904, to feature students from her Paris voice studio. It is a light-hearted retelling featuring showcase moments for each of the seven principal singers as well as some fun chorus work in the second and third acts.
Running at just over one hour, the piece is often performed to introduce younger audiences to the world of opera. There are some slight differences from other popular versions of the story. Cendrillon is living with a distant and angry stepfather and her godmother arrives at the ball to rescue Cendrillon from singing for the crowd.
The production by K-State's School of Music, Theatre and Dance will be conducted by Reginald Pittman, voice division chair, who also serves as the musical director. Theatre faculty on the production include stage direction by Jerry Jay Cranford, lighting design by James K. Davis, costume design by Dana Pinkston, technical direction by Ben Stark, scene shop supervision by George Matthews and costume shop management by Mellissa Neville.
The production will feature the work of student designers with scenic design by Jayden Gittle and props design by Frances Sheehan, both supervised by Professor Kathy Voecks, and sound design by Clever Christman, supervised by Davis.
The "Cenderillon" cast features Alyssa Byers, David Mathes, Carter Keesecker, Ethan Irons, Catherine Stagner, Emma Curry and Paige Padgett with an ensemble consisting of Valeria Vega, Sarah Keary, Sesthleng Garcia, Mageret Masoner, Caleb Miller, Jason Casey, Elijah Fontanez and Miguel Hulbert. The production is accompanied by orchestra members Joshua Fan, Kaitlyn Jones, Blake Modean, Audrey Thomas, Laura Bogner, Lily Linville, Audrey Farrell, Rachel Woodbury, Braeden Jones, Nathan Smith, Brandon Wells and Norman Roozeboom.
The student stage manager is Logan Peralez, and the assistant stage manager is Gabby Reid. The team and run crew consists of students Mackenzie Brown, Bernice Poulter, Alexandra Shine, Rachel Kuenzi, Madeline VandeRiet and drama therapist Megan Longton.
For ticketing information, visit the Theatre website and scroll down for the online box office.
