The cast did a commendable job of enunciating, allowing the audience to easily understand a fairly complex plot.Īdditionally, there were a few absolutely beautiful arias performed by the lead females in the cast. Smith captured the audience with his spot-on physical comedy and over-the-top emotions, along with his vocal talent.Īs a whole, the production was entertaining and well done. Smith’s performance of the trouble-maker stole the show, even outshining a GVSU vocal performance faculty member who joined the cast. The star of the show was clearly the bird-like hooligan, Papageno, played by GVSU student Graham Smith. The audience was left wondering where the actors would come from next, and the interaction with the audience added a great deal to the performance. While the performance space was rather cramped, the members of the production utilized the area extraordinarily well, using the wings of the theater as well as performing from the back of the audience. The performance occurred at the Grand Rapids Ballet Peter Martin Wege Theatre and featured a nine-piece live orchestra. The opera, in its simplest form, is a love story, focusing on two couples and their path to a happily-ever-after. The GVSU students joined up with dancers from the Grand Rapids Ballet School Junior Company to create a colorful and lively rendition of the well-known opera. 8 with their rendition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” However, the Grand Valley State University theater and opera students managed to entertain a packed house on Nov. Even more so, it’s highly unlikely that a college student is going to want to spend their weekend going to see an opera written over 200 years ago. For most, going to an opera is not on the top of their to-do list.