4 sessions, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Tuesdays, July 18 through August 8, 2017
(Field trip July 25)
Hanover Senior Center - Hanover, NH
Course Fee: $40

Opera North, the Professional Summer Music Festival of the Upper Valley, invites you to come backstage with General Director Evans Haile.

Opera/Musical Theatre is one of the greatest of the performing Arts, combining story telling, acting, great music, dance, exciting set designs, beautiful costumes, and of course virtuoso singing! Over the summer season, Opera North presents three major stage productions with full orchestra, sets and costumes, and a concert series at historic sites. This course takes you on a backstage “tour” of how productions and a season is put together. Come meet and hear from the internationally recognized designers, directors, and singers who make the season happen.

The course will include discussions of the season’s shows with fascinating history and insights into each production. (Did you know that Offenbach, who composed the naughty French can-can, was actually born in Germany, or that Puccini was a scandalous ladies man?)

We will look at how we come up with the different concepts for each show and what makes one production different from another. Of course, the music will be one of the most important components of the course, with an emphasis on live performance. Most importantly, no previous knowledge of musical theatre or opera is required. Combining lively group discussion and interactive lecture format, this course is designed to invite you to come look behind the curtain and experience the adventure of live theatre.

There are no required texts for this course.