Passion soars as familiar melodies from George Bizet's "Carmen" float through the air.
Durham's Triangle Opera Theater marks its 10th anniversary with "Carmen," the same opera that launched the company in the streets of Brightleaf Square.
The University has been involved in various ways with the company since its conception. For the first production of the opera, Duke Drama built sets and supplied costumes, technical equipment, personnel and the director, says musical director Scott Tilley, Trinity '80.
"I don't know what we'd do without Duke and the resources there," said Tilley, who helped form the company when he was an undergraduate.
Students are involved in almost every aspect of the opera, including singing, substituting for missing actors and working on the crew.
Most students auditioned for the production at the request of chorus master Rodney Wynkoop, director of University choral music. University students have held their own in performing with the professional company members, Tilley said.
"They get very good training at Duke. A lot of people don't really think of Duke as an arts school, but they've got a lot of good talent," Tilley said. "They blend in very well because they are so grounded in liberal arts education. They're very familiar with the intricate aspects of the theater, drama, and history--so it's not like you're trying to take someone with no background and get them to perform. When they come in, they're already well versed in opera and the history behind it, and it sort of cuts out one step for us in bringing them up to speed."
Joining a professional opera company has made schedules hard to balance for some students.
"It's hard to do the four hours a night and two summer school classes," said Trinity senior Georgia Pickett, a chorus member.
"It's a little more difficult for the students because we were running rehearsal during exams and during the week when a lot of people were at Myrtle, but that's just where we had to do it," Wynkoop said.
The hard work and long rehearsals late at night give the students a glimpse of what their futures might be.
"I've been thinking about maybe pursuing music as a career. I've debated between psychology grad school and music performance grad school. Hopefully this will help me make up my mind," Pickett said.
Although some students train with soloist Wayne Lail, a staff associate in the department of music, and have taken Duke's Opera Workshop, actually being on stage has been a new experience, said Trinity junior Jason McStoots.
Staging the show has been a difficult process for many people. "Some people have a natural flair for how they move around the stage, whereas some of the students had to be told where to move, every place to go," Wynkoop said.
One interesting part of the staging has been watching Carmen taunt the men.
"She's supposed to come on to the men and flirt pretty heavily. Some of the Duke men looked pretty shy and naive; it's been fun watching the director bring them out and make them more responsive," Wynkoop says.
It took a little while for Trinity junior Vincent Caretenuto to get used to Carmen swaying her hips and pressing herself up against him. "At first I felt kinda awkward, but then I realized it's just getting into character--it was no big deal. It fact, it's kinda fun," he said.
Some students hope that the production will advance their careers.
"It's kind of things like this [that] are going to help you get your foot into the door, and make contacts," said Trinity senior Korland Simmons, a chorus member.
Carmen will be playing at the Carolina Theater May 31 and June 2, 3 and 6 at 8 p.m. and a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. June 4.
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