Westmont’s yearly opera experience pairs the Westmont orchestra with a cast of students interested in this storied form of vocal theater. These students come from a varied background of performance experience and go through “opera boot camp” to learn necessary skills for an operatic performance. This year’s production was Gilbert and Sullivan’s campy favorite, Pirates of Penzance.
Led by music director Dr. Ruth Lin, the 18-piece orchestra played through the jaunty score on stage right of the Porter Theatre. The challenge of a novice opera is a lack of trained vocal power, and most of the cast was likely used to singing amplified by a microphone. The company’s Mabel (played by Melissa Ellsworth) was the strongest vocalist, with an operatic vibrato that pierced through the orchestra and hit that tantalizing wavelength that creates reverberation in the eardrums.
The biggest issue with a cast that isn’t quite loud enough is diminished clarity of lyrics. A cloudy chorus loses pertinent nuances, and Pirates of Penzance has a non-intuitive storyline (for instance, an indentured pirate looks forward to the freedom of his 21st birthday until it’s revealed that his birthday is February 29th of a leap year, making him only 5 years old). This production was set on a 1930’s cruise ship, which made sense in varying capacities depending on the scene, but allowed for eye-catching early-century glamour from the costuming department. Directed by Christina Jensen (herself a Westmont alumnus), staging for the production was spirited and jovial. The Pirate King (Josh Jackson) and Major-General Stanley (Asher J. Hammer) especially gave great performances in the comic style of the story.
Ultimately, I love this Westmont tradition. Opera, like many niche artistries, is not easy to break into on a casual level. It’s a pleasure to see novices enjoying their time with a new skill.
