Photo by: Michael Furman

Opera is not always dark and serious like some people assume. When the Vocal Arts Ensemble performed on Friday, there was no music by Richard Wagner or Christoph Willibald Gluck to be heard.

Instead, there were a few rather comical and entertaining scenes from various operas by Franz Lehar. The best part came in the second half of the program.

The audience’s curiosity began to rise as they saw chairs, wine glasses and Martinelli bottles set up on stage during intermission. At the end of intermission, Ruth Brand, the director of the ensemble, came out onto the stage, greeted the audience in German and described the plot for the next few comedic scenes from Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. The lyrics were in German.

The second half of the performance began nothing short of excellent as the ensemble’s powerful voices filled the hall and were accompanied by great stage presence and character. And yes, in the finale, they opened the Martinelli bottles and enjoyed a toast of “champagne” on stage.

This performance was supposed to take place last quarter, but had to be rescheduled because of illness. 

“Four of us got either the swine flu or bronchitis, and Ruth decided it would be better to move it to a different date,”  explained senior Victoria Fox.

But perhaps the wait was worth it. At the end of their performance the ensemble received a standing ovation from a pleased audience. 

“I really liked the second half. It looked like they were having fun, so it was very enjoyable,”  said sophomore Robin Spurrier, who was in the audience that night.

There is no mistake that the members of the ensemble enjoy what they do. 

“Opera is very fun and I feel as though I can open up to my full potential and do the art I love so much,”  said senior Kelsey Boesche.

“The Vocal Arts Ensemble fills the need for the operatic voices in the school and it provides an opportunity to share great repertoire with the community for free,”  said senior Scott Merchant, who has been a member of the ensemble since its beginning. “We are so grateful to Ruth, Kenneth Cox [the director of the vocal program] and Joe Docksey [the director of Lamont] for giving us this opportunity.”