TCU Opera: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Photo by Glen E. Ellman
The National Opera Association hosts an annual competition to promote opera and music theatre in academic institutions and small regional opera companies.
This year, the association recognized TCU’s Opera Studio in two of its eight divisions, awarding a first-place prize to the world premiere of “The Falling and the Rising” and a third-place prize to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” A panel of 26 judges scored entries based on their music accuracy and integrity; quality of singing; diction; dramatic credibility and characterization; production concept, staging and execution; and quality of production relative to the budget.
“The Falling and the Rising,” a joint production of TCU and The Soldiers’ Chorus of the U.S. Army Field Band, chronicles the imagined journey of a soldier suspended inside a coma following a roadside attack. The opera was created to honor the indomitable spirit of our country’s military veterans and to shed light on the power of their often overlooked stories.
The Opera Studio, in an updated production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” brought to life the comic fantasy by weaving together richly textured music with magic, comic confusion, amateur theatricals and mismatched lovers.
TCU’s Opera Studio presents fully staged productions of both chamber opera and standard, full-length works. This competition marked the Opera Studio’s first time to compete.
This story originally appeared in TCU This Week.