Vanderbilt Opera Theatre (VOT) is open by audition to all Vanderbilt students. VOT, under the direction of Gayle Shay, presents one fully staged and costumed production with orchestra in the fall semester, and a staged art song theater piece in alternating spring semesters under the auspices of the Lyric Theatre Workshop (MUSO 1201-1203).
Repertoire for the fall production is drawn from both the operatic and musical theater canon. All members of the cast participate in backstage production work as assigned by the faculty.
Auditions are held at varying times throughout the year.
Mansfield Park and The Ghosts of Gatsby
Vanderbilt Opera Theatre | Gayle Shay, director
Vanderbilt University Orchestra | Jennifer McGuire, conductor
Vanderbilt Opera Theatre presents two new chamber operas, both written in the last five years.
The Ghosts of Gatsby spends a day on the French Riviera circa 1924 with acclaimed author F. Scott Fitzgerald and three different versions of his wife, Zelda. Scott is obsessed by his work on his novel, The Great Gatsby, and is jealous of Zelda's recent affair. Locked in her bedroom, Zelda has visions of both a younger and older self.
The Ghosts of Gatsby runs Thursday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m. Run time is 90 minutes. As the audience arrives, they will be greeted by a 30-minute curtain-raiser scene featuring the players from the Blair School's award-winning jazz program performing jazz standards from the 1920s. A pre-show talk with the composer, Blair alumnus Evan Mack, and the librettist, Blair Senior Lecturer Joshua McGuire, will be held both nights at 7:15 p.m. in Choral Hall.
Mansfield Park is a chamber opera in two acts based on the eponymous Jane Austen novel. It tells the story of poor relation Fanny Price, sent at age 10 to live with her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, at his family estate, Mansfield Park. As she comes of age, she must choose between her old life and a new love.
Mansfield Park runs Friday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. Run time is 1 hour and 45 minutes with one intermission. A pre-show talk with Blair Musicologist Joy Calico and Belmont University Professor of English Douglas Murray will be held prior to the Friday evening show at 7:15 p.m. in Choral Hall.
Sponsored by the Mary Cortner Ragland Master Series Fund and presented with gratitude to a the parent of a Blair School graduate and to an anonymous friend for generously supporting the school