Further action is required to make this featured image accessible
The below criteria must be satisfied:
- Add featured-image alt tag (in page properties OR on image metadata in the dam)
The image will not display until the issue above is resolved.
CCM's Mainstage Series Presents Franz Lehar's Witty Operetta 'The Merry Widow,' Nov. 19-22
The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) Fall 2015 Mainstage Series comes to a witty and whimsical conclusion with Franz Lehár's comic operetta
The Merry Widow
, playing Nov. 19 - 22 in Patricia Corbett Theater.
Conducted by
Aik Khai Pung
with stage direction by
Emma
Griffin
, this production of
The Merry Widow
will be sung in English with a translation by renowned American lyricist Sheldon Harnick.
A glorious early-20th century operetta and forerunner to the modern musical,
The Merry Widow
tells the fizzy tale of star-crossed lovers and political shenanigans in a glitzy and idealized version of Paris. Madame Hanna Glawari, the widow of the wealthiest man in Petrovenia, is in Paris for the first time following her elderly husband's demise. Concerned by the widow's many suitors, Petrovenian Ambassador Baron Zeta assumes the role of matchmaker to ensure that Hanna's wealth remains within the country, rather than fall into foreign hands. To set his plan in motion, the baron sends his secretary to fetch Hanna's old flame, Danilo, from another party. Unfortunately, the baron becomes so obsessed with his own schemes that he fails to notice the affair between his wife and rival party member Camille.
What begins as a pleasant, professional party at the Petrovenian Embassy rapidly devolves into a drunken debacle by the time Hanna and her entourage arrive at the famous nightclub, "Maxim's," in the early hours of the morning.
"In some ways, it's a very simple idea," explains Griffin, an assistant professor of opera at CCM. "
The Merry Widow
is about the sort of things that happen when you're 25 years old and you go to three parties over the course of a single night. The opera is about these beautiful people, which doesn't diminish the love stories at the heart of
The Merry Widow
. Instead, it instills the show with a feverish and heightened romantic atmosphere."
Griffin read 18 different translations of
The Merry Widow
before settling on Harnick's adaptation, which is written in a decidedly American vernacular.
"Our voice and opera majors don't always get much experience performing in American English, so this is an opportunity for our students to exercise some different muscles," she explains. Bursts of spoken dialogue also give
The Merry Widow
the charming feel of musical theatre.
The hybrid sensibilities of this operetta are even reflected in the production's sizable cast, which features students from CCM's departments of opera, musical theatre and drama. With choreography by
Patti James
, who promises a can't-miss can-can number, CCM's Mainstage Series production of
The Merry Widow
is sure to be magical, colorful and - of course - delightfully
merry
.
Featuring a score that
Stage and Cinema
describes as "a rich musical mix of Viennese waltzes, Hungarian folk dances and French insouciance,"
The Merry Widow
is a sparking romp in which farce, romance and jealousy abound. Join us for a fantastical Parisian bar crawl, as the fate of an entire nation hangs in the balance!
Performance Times
- 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov.19
- 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20
- 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21
- 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23
Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati
Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to Franz Lehár's
The Merry Widow
are $31-35 for adults, $20-24 for non-UC students and $18-22 UC students with a valid ID. $12-$15 student rush tickets will become available one hour prior to each performance; limit two student rush tickets per valid ID.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at
ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/mainstage/merry-widow
.
Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit
for more information on parking rates.
For detailed maps and directions, please visit
. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.
For directions to CCM Village, visit
.
____
CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation
Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macys
Community Partner: ArtsWave
Related Stories
UC President Neville Pinto shares 2024 State of the University...
April 16, 2024
University of Cincinnati President Neville G. Pinto shared his 2024 Sate of the University address with the campus community on April 15.
UC selects dean to lead renowned performing and media arts...
April 11, 2024
Peter Jutras, PhD, professor of piano and piano pedagogy and director of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music (HHSOM) at the University of Georgia, has been named dean of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, effective Aug. 1, 2024, pending approval of the UC Board of Trustees.
WLWT: Excitement building with Kelce brothers
April 11, 2024
The connection to alum Travis Kelce runs deep at the University of Cincinnati, but there's a relationship with Taylor Swift as well. UC has offered classes on Taylor's musical impact long before Taylor and Travis became a couple.