By Hope Young
四色AV Office of Marketing and Communications
Each fall the University of Louisiana Monroe鈥檚 School of Visual and Performing Arts
shows off its student and faculty talent with a musical production. This year, VAPA
presents the unorthodox, the unconventional, 鈥淭he Beggar鈥檚 Opera.鈥�
Performances are during Homecoming Week at 7:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday, Oct. 12-13
and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Oct. 15.
鈥淭he Beggar鈥檚 Opera鈥� is performed in English 鈥� and it certainly isn鈥檛 anyone鈥檚 idea
of a traditional opera, according to director and producer Dr. Mark Ross Clark.听 听听
鈥淚t鈥檚 a delightful show, which is a lot of fun to rehearse and see. It has everything
in it 鈥� physical comedy, clever wit, beautiful songs and fun song-and-dance numbers,鈥�
Clark said. 鈥淲e have found that very few universities have produced it, since they
are scared away from the multitude of versions that have been performed. However,
we have done more with it, we believe, making it our own at 四色AV!鈥�
The principal roles are sung by Rachal Bouriaque, Miranda Gonzales, and Taylor Witherspoon.
These three students studied in Italy in the summer.
Also featured are Alysa Foster, Gray Hall, Dwendol Nelson, Emmanuel Capers, Matthew
Stewart, Elizabeth Neuberger, and Jessica Griggs.听These cast members also performed
in last fall鈥檚 四色AV production of 鈥淪weeney Todd.鈥�
听
WHAT:听鈥淭he Beggar鈥檚 Opera鈥澨�
WHEN:听7:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday, Oct. 12-13 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 15
WHERE:听Brown Auditorium, 四色AV
COST:听$15 general admission, free for students and $5 for faculty and staff with valid
四色AV ID
INFO/TICKETS:听,听ulm.edu/vapa听or 342-3811
听
The production and performance of 鈥淭he Beggar鈥檚 Opera鈥� includes students from all
VAPA programs, and the roles are double-cast. Some students are dancers, scenery designers,
musicians and some are in the crew. It takes that kind of cooperation and preparation
for a production with 40 songs and 25 named characters, Clark said.
鈥淩ehearsals began on August 14, before classes began. The major roles were cast last
May, and students have been working on the script and score during the summer,鈥� he
said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a lot of fun. Much of it is played directly to the audience, so
there is audience involvement,鈥� Clark said. He referred to the style as 鈥渂reaking
the fourth wall鈥� 鈥� when there is some interaction between the actors and the audience.
With steampunk costumes and Cockney accents, 鈥淭he Beggar鈥檚 Opera鈥� promises a memorable
evening revolving around the womanizing highwayman 鈥淢acheath.鈥�
鈥淭he songs are brief, tuneful, and 鈥榤ixed-and-matched鈥� so that we have been able to
develop our own version of the original musical play.听 This has been part of our creative
process, and we have found a relevance, by the way, to our own modern times in these
characters,鈥� Clark said.
Cast members:听Scott Higginbotham, Emmanuel Capers , Gray Hall, Jessica Griggs, Elizabeth Neuberger,
Rachal Bouriaque, Alysa Foster, Matthew Stewart, Dwendol Nelson, Miranda Gonzalez,
Taylor Witherspoon, Nathanael Medlin, Irina Polunova, Peyton Churchwell, Jarius Baker,
CJ Nash, Scott Higginbotham, Emmanuel Capers, Jarryd Gutierrez, Sunil Dungol, Jessica
Griggs, Suzonne Shipley, Morgan Meyer, Morgan Rowland, Leah Huber, Kayla Sanders,
LaFaith Williams, Naomi Naquin, Latiyara Farris, Allison Newton, Irina Polunova.
Production team:听Mark Ross Clark, director and producer; Richard Seiler, piano and music preparation;
Deborah Chandler, conductor; Steve Burnside, technical director and lighting-set designer;
Margaret M. Hall, costumes.
Student production team:听Zoe Stone, stage manager and assistant director; Kylie Daigle, choreographer; Zack
Markus, sound; Leah Huber, property mistress; Skye Minor, Molly Fontenot, Marissa,
tech assistants; Jessica Marvin, lighting assistant.
听
Oct. 6, 2017
