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A Night At The Opera: In Stories & Song
Sunday August 26, 2012

By Edhat Subscriber

Murder, suicide, a bullfighter, a princess, masquerade balls, women dressed as men - It's just a typical Night at the Opera. Saturday and Sunday August 25 and 26 Speaking of Stories brings back it's very popular production A Night At The Opera: In Stories & Song a unique and captivating performance blending beautiful arias from La Bohème, Tales of Hoffman, Carmen, Die Fledermaus and more intertwined with stories from Age of Innocence, Where Angels Fear to Tread, The Phantom of the Opera, Madame Bovary and James Joyce's Ulysses.

A Night At The Opera: In Stories & Song will perform Saturday August 25 at 6:00 pm, and Sunday August 26 at 2:00 pm at Center Stage Theater, Saturday's performance will be followed by a special patron reception.

Speaking of Stories Artistic Director Maggie Mixsell and Music Director Anne Bell have joined forces once again to create a highly entertaining performance. When asked to describe her inspirations for the evening Music Director Anne Bell said, "I believe opera is a beautiful expression of raw emotion. It's interesting that so many people don't 'get' opera. Many composers, among them Mozart, saw opera as the most expressive form of music. When you read these amazing stories, it brings the music to life. I would also compare opera to red wine - it takes awhile for most people to develop a taste for it, but the result is a lifetime of hedonistic delight. For me, there's no better evening than a soiree with friends, playing music and singing opera."

The performance will combine classics from both the literary and musical world, as well as some lovely surprises that you might be highly familiar with but have no idea of their operatic origins. There is probably no other classical tune - operatic or otherwise - that turns up in more varied places than the other-worldly "hit single", the Flower Duet from Lakme by Leo Delibes. Lakme is the story of ill- fated, cross-cultural lovers. It begins with the lovers wooing one another and ends with Lakme drinking poison and dying in her lover's arms while her father watches. In the drama's first act, with the plot barely underway, the title character and one of her servants pause by a river to gather flowers. Delibes gave them a duet, to help establish the opera's exotic atmosphere, and that duet has become one of the most familiar numbers any composer, in any genre, has ever written. You can hear it at the movies, on television shows, in elevators and shopping malls, and in all manner of commercials. You can even download the number as a ringtone for your cell phone.

The performers for the evening will be a combination of familiar faces and new surprises from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Stories will be performed by husband and wife team Annie Torsiglieri and Michael Bernard, with musical performances by Christina Ball, Anne Bell and Travis Haase and accompanist Michael Alfera.

Anne Torsiglieri has been seen on Broadway in Top Girls, Parade, Blood Brothers and Miss Saigon as well as in the National Tour of Les Misérables as Fantine. Off-Broadway and regionally she's performed at theatres which include Berkeley Rep, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theatre, NY Stage and Film, Williamstown Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre and The Huntington. TV and film include Law & Order, Kidnapped, Gossip Girl and the award winning Albert Schweitzer: Called to Africa (Gabriel and Telly Awards). Anne is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Theater and Dance at UCSB.

Michael Bernard spent 10 years as the Associate Artistic Director of The 52nd Street Project, a nationally recognized company that creates original theater with kids from Hell's Kitchen New York and theater professionals. Michael has written, directed, and performed in many plays there including adaptations of Twelfth Night, A Midsummer's Nights Dream, and As You Like It featuring teenagers and adult actors which toured to London and France. Michael has written some commercials for television that you probably skipped over as well as for Disney, Nickelodeon, Henson Productions, Nick at Nite, DC Comics, Showtime, Spike TV, The Sundance Channel, Noggin, WE, MTV and VH1. Here in Santa Barbara Michael is one of the hosts of Live From the Piano Kitchen. A monthly live variety show broadcast on KCSB. Michael has performed and directed improvisational theater and sketch comedy in Boston, Chicago, Seattle and New York.

Anne Bell has been actively involved as a professional singer, conductor and voice teacher for more than 20 years. As a singer, she has performed in the former Soviet Union, Europe and Asia. As Music Director of Children's Choral Programs for the Braille Institute from 1996 to 2007, Ms. Bell recruited for, and implemented the organization's first visually impaired children's choir program. She is credited with developing new techniques for directing visually impaired choirs and under her leadership the choirs performed extensively. She is also Music Director at St. Stephen's Church in Granada Hills, where she directs the adult and bell choirs and organizes community concerts. Ms. Bell served as Assistant Director/Music Director for the Fountain Theatre's production of The Master Class" in Los Angeles. The production received critical acclaim and was extended twice.

Christina Ball has been seen locally in the inaugural Night at the Opera: In Stories and Music in 2011 and at the Center Stage Theater Savory and Sweet benefit in May of 2012. She has studied opera and vocal performance at CALArts, Cal State University, Northridge and the Tanglewood Music Festival. She has appeared in numerous operas including The Magic Flute, Susannah, Soir Angelica and The Coronation of Poppea. She performs regularly at St. Stephen's Church and she and Ms. Bell can be heard on many Friday nights wowing the customers at Hollywood landmark restaurant Micelli's, performing arias and classic jazz and musical theater selections.

Baritone, Travis Haase has performed in numerous operas and musical theater productions including Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Hänsel und Gretel, Le nozze di Figaro, Giulio Cesare, Gianni Schicchi, Oklahoma!, and The Music Man. Travis has also had the privilege of being a guest soloist for The Peninsula Singers in Port Angeles, WA. He currently works for Alfred Music Publishing as the head of the digital production department. He also works as bass section leader of St. Steven's Lutheran church of Granada Hills.

A Night At The Opera: In Stories & Song performs at 6:00 p.m on Saturday August 25 and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday August 26 at the Center Stage Theater, 751 Paseo Nuevo, in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. Tickets for A Night At The Opera are $15 for students and military, $25 general admission, and $50 Parton ticket for Saturday only, which includes preferred seating and a special post-performance reception with the artists. Box Office hours are Wednesday through Friday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and one hour before all performances. Center Stage Theater accepts Visa and Mastercard. Call the box office at (805) 963-0408 or log on to www.centerstagetheater.org to order online. For additional information visit speakingofstories.org. The Center Stage Theater is wheelchair accessible and has the Assistive Listening System in place for patrons who desire amplification.

More Info: www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=1476&nid=97800

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