Friday, November 5th, 2010

West Virginia Wesleyan’s Departments of Theatre and Dance and Music will present Menotti’s one-act operas, Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Telephone. The operas will run Thursday, November 11 through November 13 at 8 p.m. and November 14 at 3 p.m. at the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts.

Amahl and the Night Visitors is the story of a young boy, Amahl. The Magi ask Amahl and his Mother for shelter on their journey to see the Child. Amahl’s Mother tries to steal the king’s gold to help her child, but is caught by their Page. What happens from there is a Christmas miracle.

In The Telephone, Ben visits his girlfriend Lucy with a special gift. Ben proposes to Lucy but she is occupied with frequent phone conversations. Ben even attempts to cut the phone cord. Before catching the train, Ben makes one last proposal attempt.

Mandy Spivak is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice at Wesleyan. She earned a bachelor of music degree from the University of Miami, a master of music degree from the University of Houston, and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Miami. She has found success in concert as well as on the operatic stage.  During the past two summers, she has been a featured performer at the John Duffy Composer’s Institute in association with the Virginia Arts Festival.  Dr. Spivak also recently portrayed the title role in Puccini’s Tosca with Amarillo Opera in Amarillo, TX. Other roles include Love Simpson in Cold Sassy Tree, Minnie in Wage of Sin (produced for KACV television), Hannah Glawari in The Merry Widow, Adina in The Elixir of Love, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus and Anne Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

This is Dr. Spivak’s frist time directing at Wesleyan and it is the first time the Departments of Theatre and Dance and Music have collaborated on a fully produced opera. Spivak states “collaborating with this group of students and colleagues has been one of the highlights of my teaching career.  It has been a wonderful experience; one that I hope to revisit again in the near future.”

The cast and crew of Amahl and the Night Visitors includes Sean Crites, a fifth grader from Buckhannon, as Amahl; Kelsey Tolley, a senior music education from Poca, WV as Amahl; Rebecca Culp, a senior MBA-arts administration major form Hollidaysburg, PA as the Mother; Ryan McAtee, a senior high school student from Buckhannon, as Balthazar; D’Andrew Parker, a junior music education major from Bridgeport, WV as Kaspar; Scott Wallace, senior music and political science major from Parkersburg, WV as Melchoir; and Timothy Brown, a freshman musical theatre and vocal performance major from Upper Marlboro, MD as the Page. Amahl’s chorus includes Nathan Boone, a junior Christian education and music education major from Morgantown, WV; Kelsey Bowman, a junior English major from Circleville, WV; Alex Eby, a freshman education major from Huntington, WV; Allison English, a senior music education major from Coshocton, OH; Joshua Holets, a junior musical theatre major from Monongahelia, PA; Danielle Kelly, a junior English writing major from Beverley, WV; Ryan Perry, a junior musical theatre major from Inwood, WV; Alex Richardson, a musical theatre major from Oak Hill, WV; Justin Seti, a freshman music education major from Clarksburg, WV;  Hannah Spencer, a junior vocal performance major from Ronceverte, WV; Tiffany Thompson, a sophomore musical theatre major from Bronx, NY and Gabrielle M. Tokach, a junior musical theatre and arts administration theatre major from Winchester, VA.

The cast of The Telephone includes Robert Quarles, a senior musical theatre and political science major from Lusby, MD as Ben; and Rose Scott, a junior music performance major from Clarksburg, WV as Lucy. Adam Gearhart, a senior technical theatre major from Chicago, IL, is the productions’ stage manager.

Tickets will be available at the door one hour prior to the curtain time and are priced as follows:  Adults – $7.00, Seniors (over 60) and non-WVWC students – $5.00, WVWC students, faculty and staff – $3.00 (with ID).