GSU Opera Production Offers Free Admission To April Performances

June 18, 2012

The students of Georgia Southern Opera Theatre will present Puccini’s Sister Angelica and Douglas Moore’s The Devil and Daniel Webster at The Averitt Center for the Arts. Performances are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 8th and 9th, at 7:30 pm, and on Sunday, April 10 at 3:00 pm. Dr. Arikka Gregory, Director of Opera Theatre at Georgia Southern, is pleased to offer these performances free of charge. “I’m eager to build a new audience for opera in the area, so I’m experimenting with offering these performances for free. I’m considering offering more free performances in the future if I see a big turn-out.” It’s no secret that opera is the most expensive art form in the world; people rarely have the opportunity to see live opera free of charge.

These two operas are built on familiar stories: a young unwed mother is separated from her baby moments after he is born, and is forced to leave her family and join a convent because of the shame she has brought upon her family. A poor farmer struggles along in despair and, with no hope of any reward for his hard labor, sells his soul to the devil in exchange for wealth. These are the kind of stories that we’ve all heard before, but when masterful composers like Giacomo Puccini and Douglas Moore set these stories to music, the characters and their emotions become larger than life.

Dr. Richard Mercier is the Chair of Georgia Southern’s Music Department, and is serving as Musical Director for these performances.

WHAT: Georgia Southern Opera’s FREE Presentation of Sister Angelica and The Devil and Daniel Webster (both in English with English supertitles).

WHEN: Friday, April 8 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, April 10 at 3:00 pm WHERE: The Emma Kelly Theater at The Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro, Georgia.