Students from Kellogg Community College’s Opera/Musical Theatre Workshop will perform select semi-staged scenes from some of the best known and beloved operas and Broadway shows as part of their production “Musical Madness” next week.
The production, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the fellowship hall of First Presbyterian Church, 111 Capital Ave. NE, Battle Creek.
Scenes to be presented include selections from “Little Shop of Horrors,” Jekyll & Hyde,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Tick, Tick… Boom!,” Handel’s “Acis and Galatea” and Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte.” Also included will be dramatically staged classical art songs by composers including Edvard Grieg, Richard Hageman, Jules Massenet and Giovanni Paisiello.
Dr. Gerald Blanchard, a vocal music professor at KCC and director of the production, said every scene deals with some aspect of love, whether innocent, deceptive, unrequited, or its loss.
“The music evokes many emotions, from the highest joys as in the ‘Happy We’ from Handel’s opera ‘Acis and Galatea’ to the darkest expression of sadness as in Jules Massenet’s beautifully haunting ‘Elegie,’” Blanchard said. “The madness is beyond surface expression, but runs much deeper. This show will certainly take you on an emotional journey.”
The production, which will include performances from about 30 students, is sponsored in part by Randall Foods, Inc., and Eleanor R. and Robert A. DeVries. A free-will offering will be collected during the event to benefit future vocal arts initiatives at the College, including an international concert tour of Italy next summer.
For more information about vocal arts at Kellogg Community College, contact the college’s Arts and Communication offices at 269-565-7859 or visit www.kellogg.edu/performart.
For more news about KCC, view our latest press releases online at daily.kellogg.edu/category/press-releases.