the Informer

BILL DIRIENZO

With the start of a new semester, comes the promise of lavish performances implemented by the talent and range of those Hartt School students who have worked diligently to bring their craft to life.

Although we’ve been accustomed to the many productions, successfully executed by the Hartt School’s musical theater and acting divisions that have maximized last season’s repertoire, the vocal performance majors kick off this semester’s line-up of thespian magic with the comedic opera “The Hotel Casablanca.”

“Hotel Casablanca” takes place in 1948 where the discovery of oil in Texas catapulted desperate farmers to new money. After being introduced to a plethora of eccentric characters ranging from a retired comedian turned butler to a Spanish bull breeder and an aspiring actress, we learn the opera surrounds a couple who gets themselves into quite the predicament through a series of hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings.

Tallulah Carter, a former vaudeville dancer, is led to believe her husband, Tom, is engaging in adultery after a mysterious package is delivered to their home. With the help of her friend Lucy, the two write a letter to Tom under the alias of a mysterious woman inviting him to the Hotel Casablanca, a seedy establishment where men go to cheat on their wives.

However, when Tom receives the letter, he assumes it was meant for his ranch manager, Tobias, and sends him to the infamous hotel instead. The remainder of Act I consists of additional story lines that excel into Act II, inducting more characters whose actions result in energy, outrageousness and a ton of laughs.

With such a large assemblage of vocal performance majors, the production has been divided between two casts: one presenting on the Thursday and Saturday performances and a second cast operating Friday and Sunday. Thanks to Miguel Vasquez and Dean Murphy, both starring in the upcoming opera, we were given a better look into how the two casts were able to advance throughout the rehearsal process.

Murphy, a sophomore who plays the “simpleton” Tobias, believes having the show double casted is a great thing.

“It’s really nice to be able to talk with someone else who is studying the same role,” Murphy said. “It makes collaborating to make character decisions much easier when staging the opera.” It also helps that both casts have been rehearsing about five hours daily since Jan. 9, which continued well into the beginning of classes and start of the semester.

Vasquez, a senior tackling the coveted role of Tom Carter for the Friday and Sunday performances, agrees with the idea of two casts especially when rehearsals vary from musical aspects, to coaching, staging, a review of the show and honing in on character development.

“As they say, two heads are better than one,” Vasquez said. “Every performer has a different take on the same character. We each bring a different feel which makes both the characters and the process more interesting, not to mention our director really helps us get into characters and layering them up like an onion.”

He also goes onto say, “It’s also helpful in terms of resting. Singing opera is an athletic acoustical form of art and listening is just as vital as actually practicing. A night off from performances will be a good thing during the show’s actual run.”

Directed by phenomenal visionary Ron Luchsinger and conducted by Doris Lang Kosloff, “The Hotel Casablanca” runs from Feb. 2 to Feb. 5 in Millard Auditorium.