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MSU Opera Workshop Warms Hearts and Chills Bones with Double Header

awakeatmidnight.com

  The MSU Opera Workshop ensemble is performing their annual Spring production this weekend, featuring two Menotti shows ranging from heart-warming to bone-chilling. Cast members Julie Knight, Emma Whitt, and Melanie Davis visit Sounds Good to discuss their upcoming performance. 

      The Telephone is a twenty minute one-act opera written by Gian Carlo Menotti comprised of two characters: Lucy and Ben. Throughout the course of their short visit at a restaurant, Ben tries multiple times to get Lucy's attention long enough to discuss a matter that is clearly very important to him. Lucy is engrossed in her telephone and grabbing her attention proves to be more difficult than Ben expected. 
           The Medium, also by Menotti, sets a very different mood. Set in the home of an old, drunk clairvoyant, The Medium blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural. Madame Flora, known as Baba to her two "children," Monica and Toby, slowly unravels into insanity as she loses control in the realm of the dead through which she navigated so many patrons. 
           The Murray State opera workshop is a class offered every semester, although productions switch annually between full-production operas and scene programs. The last opera performed by the workshop was Hansel and Gretel in 2016. The class (and shows) are directed by Dr. Maribeth Crawford and Dr. Randall Black, and each show is double cast to provide as many students with this educational and musical opportunity as possible.  
          The Telephone and The Medium will be performed this weekend only, April 6th and 7th, in the Performing Arts Hall in Old Fine Arts. The show begins at 7:30 pm and will last approximately an hour and a half with a 15 minute intermission. Tickets are $10 cash or check at the door, and free with an MSU student ID. For more information, visit the Opera Workshop's Facebook page.

Tracy started working for WKMS in 1994 while attending Murray State University. After receiving his Bachelors and Masters degrees from MSU he was hired as Operations/Web/Sports Director in 2000. Tracy hosted All Things Considered from 2004-2012 and has served as host/producer of several music shows including Cafe Jazz, and Jazz Horizons. In 2001, Tracy revived Beyond The Edge, a legacy alternative music program that had been on hiatus for several years. Tracy was named Program Director in 2011 and created the midday music and conversation program Sounds Good in 2012 which he hosts Monday-Thursday. Tracy lives in Murray with his wife, son and daughter.
Melanie Davis-McAfee graduated from Murray State University in 2018 with a BA in Music Business. She has been working for WKMS as a Music and Operations Assistant since 2017. Melanie hosts the late-night alternative show Alien Lanes, Fridays at 11 pm with co-host Tim Peyton. She also produces Rick Nance's Kitchen Sink and Datebook and writes Sounds Good stories for the web.
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