Famous singer Maria Callas once said: “An opera begins long before the curtain goes up.” This quote pertains perfectly to Pepperdine’s upcoming production of “Die Fledermaus,” since cast members of the opera have been working night and day since early last semester to give its audience a show to remember. “Die Fledermaus,” translated literally as “The Bat,” took the Smothers stage yesterday, and will run until Saturday, Feb. 25. The cast is made up entirely of Pepperdine students, many of whom are music majors who have dedicated their lives to the art of song.
One of those performers is Kara Smoot, a senior vocal performance major playing the role of “Rosalinda.” Smoot says that, “Die Fledermaus is the perfect show for someone who has never seen an opera,” and that it will be “very entertaining.” The 19th century Strauss opera is a quick-witted story about romance, false identities, imprisonment, and lavish ballroom parties.
“Die Fledermaus” is unique as an opera because of its comedic characters and clever dialogue along with the beautiful music.
Since the music department has an abundance of talent and the opera only a minimal number of major roles, two groups of leads will be alternating performance dates, with the Orange cast performing Wednesday and Friday and the Blue cast performing Thursday and Saturday.
The singers have been hard at work practicing their songs individually since mid-October, and they started staging each of the three acts in early December. Since December, the lead roles have been practicing together every day. Practices are typically very long, lasting from 6 until 10 every night, including weekends.
But strenuous rehearsal is nothing new to these music students. This past summer, the Pepperdine music program performed a plethora of opera scenes together while in Heidelberg, Germany. Smoot herself sung the roles of Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” and Desdemona in “Otello.” This week, in her Malibu debut, Smoot’s favorite songs of the upcoming show will include the “Watch Duet” with the character Eisentein, which is in the second act, and her song “Czardas.”
Smoot said she makes sure to get as much sleep as possible before each of her performances to be well rested. She takes daily vitamins to stay healthy and drinks a large quantity of water and hot tea to ease her throat. Smoot also takes great care in protecting her voice by rarely speaking on show days so that she doesn’t overuse her voice before the performance. Like many other performers, Smoot mentally runs through her songs, staging, and dialogue as much as possible before the shows to avoid making mistakes.
With months of preparation and a stacked double cast, this opera is sure to present the Pepperdine community with a show to remember. The twists and betrayals in the script are enough to keep any audience, young and old, on their toes. Tickets are available now in the Smothers Theater for $10 with a student ID.
