Members of the Full Circle Opera Project --students from the Los Angeles High School for the Arts directed by Stephanie Vlahos-- will present two free performances of The Medium by Gian Carlo Menottiin the Library Community Room on October 23rd . Theshows, in celebration of Halloween, are appropriate for adults and teens. They will start at 7:00p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and no tickets or reservations are needed.
The project is a unique experience in the art of opera for young adults. Heralded as groundbreaking by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the group is supported by a 5-year grant from the Flora Thornton Foundation. The Full Circle Opera Project has established itself as an effective initiation into classical singing for so many of its performers. The quality of the project as an opera training ground is reflected in its esteemed alumni, many of whom now attend prestigious conservatories, both in the United States and abroad.
The Medium by Menotti is a short (one hour) two-act dramatic opera. The plot concerns Baba, who as ‘’Madame Flora’ conducts bogus séances with her daughter Monica and a gypsy deaf-mute named Toby to extract money from bereaved parents. At a séance she feels a pair of hands on her throat and panics. She wonders if the world has come to punish her or if it was merely Toby who she has treated abusively. Unable to get the answer to this question, she retreats to the bottle. At the opera’s end, startled from her stupor, she shoots the banished Toby after having mistaken him for a ghost. “Was it you?” she rasps over his dead body. 'The Medium' is a cautionary tale, which has its genesis in a seance attended by the composer himself.
The Library Community Room is located at 1115 El Centro Street. Halloween-themed refreshments will be provided.
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