By Christina Littlefield
A&E Editor
Two roads diverge in the woods, and senior Patrick Alan Casey still isn’t sure which one he will take.
“I’m torn between singing classical or my own music,” Casey said. “It’s really hard because I’m trying to figure out which direction I really want to go.”
The vocal performance major has one of the male leads in Pepperdine’s Rossini “Barber of Seville,” singing the bass role of Bartolo Feb. 21 and 23 in Smothers Theatre. It is his fourth major production with the Flora L. Thornton Opera Program, in addition to his performance in the West Coast premiere of “The Philosopher’s Stone,” a semi-staged concert version in Raitt Recital Hall in October.
Between his other major operatic performances as an undergraduate at Seaver, Casey took two years off to work on his own music, composing and performing 12 tracks on his CD “Silent Prophecy” and putting on numerous shows.
“(My music) is kind of along the lines of piano alternative with a little R&B and pop,” Casey said. “It’s similar to Tori Amos maybe or Ben Folds Five. It’s like a culmination of everything that I have been through in my life and things I have perceived to happen in the future.”
The highlight of Casey’s sabbatical to his hometown of Eldorado Springs, Mo. was that he served as the featured entertainment for the Miss Missouri pageant in 2000 and 2001. A friend in the pageant helped get him the job, which included dancers performing to Casey’s music.
“I felt like a rock star for a second,” he said of the experience.
The temptation to choose the rock star path is ever apparent as Casey is talking with Tantrum Entertainment about signing him and distributing the twelve-track “Silent Prophecy.”
“I’m not really sure if I want to sign with them or not because obviously I’m not sure if I want that or not,” said Casey, who has two other experimental CDs of his music. “That would be it. They would have me off touring and doing shows.”
Right now, Casey is just excited to be performing in “Barber of Seville,” which he started rehearsing this summer during the Florence opera program
“I think it is the most fun I’ve ever had doing any opera role,” Casey said. “It’s like being in a Looney Tunes cartoon.”
His character, Bartolo, is a greedy old man trying to seduce the 16-year-old girl he is caretaker of, mostly because he wants a part of her wealth.
“He thinks he’s really the — I can’t say that word. He thinks he’s really the stuff,” Casey said. “He goes through all kind of scheming and planning to figure out how he’s going to marry her and he ends up just getting schemed himself.”
Director Dr. Henry Price choose this particular opera because of the exceptional low voices of Casey and seniors Daniel Peretto and Brian Speck, who are now in the opera program.
“Patrick has always shown a lot of tremendous raw talent, but this year his vocal talent has fallen into place far more than I ever expected,” said Price, who added that Casey should have no problems getting into top graduate schools if he decided to take that route.
Casey loves to sing classical music, but he said there is a definite appeal to writing and performing his own music. A pianist and vocalist since kindergarten, he believes that music has a unique ability to connect with people, and to connect people with one another and with God.
“I would love to write music and have it put out there, either by me or by someone,” Casey said. “And I would love to be able to like have someone come up and say ‘I was going through this and that song really helped me through that time of my life or helped me understand that about myself.’ That would be my dream.”
Whatever road he chooses, Casey hopes to touch his audiences.
“I think it is important to do something with your life that means something,” he said.
Sidebar:
Personal:
Patrick Alan Casey is a
senior vocal performance major from Eldorado
Springs, Mo.
Playing by ear:
Casey started playing the piano in kindergarten. “My family says we were somewhere and I heard the ‘Star Bangled Banner’ and I just came home and played it on the piano,” he said. “I don’t remember that and I am not sure I believe it. Whether or not that is true I don’t know.”
Pep productions:
Casey starred in the operas “Gianni Schicchi,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “The Magic Flute” and “The Philosopher’s Stone.” He stars in “The Barber of Seville” Feb. 21 and 23 in Smothers Theatre.
Hopeful graduate:
Casey is cramming in 22 units this semester and 19 over the summer sessions to graduate this year.
His hero:
Amy Grant. “It’s sort of funny, my mom used to play her records when she was pregnant with me,” Casey said. “She was just always (playing) when I was growing up and she is the reason I wanted to be a singer.”
Best Amy Grant album:
“Behind the Eyes.”
“She was going through a divorce and it was a more real, personal album and I appreciate that — when people almost let themselves be naked in order to allow their fans to really see how they feel about things.”
Favorite movie quote:
“Whoever saves one life saves the world entirely” from “Schindler’s List.”
Solo performance:
Casey performs his senior recital April 5 in Raitt Recital Hall. He plans to sing classical arias, his favorite spirituals and a couple songs he composed.
February 07, 2002