Author: Lynn Felder

<p><i>Volpone</i> by UNCSA’s Fletcher Opera Institute Delights Sonically and Visually</p>

Volpone by UNCSA’s Fletcher Opera Institute Delights Sonically and Visually

Posted by | Apr 20, 2022 | , ,

What could be more fun than a couple of greedy guys trying to swindle a bunch of greedy people who are trying to swindle the two greedy guys? If you think the foxiest one will win, you’ll want to put your money on Volpone, the latest offering from UNC School of the Arts’ A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and the School of Design and Production.

Italian for “Great Fox,” Volpone, with music by John Musto and libretto by Mark Campbell, is a comedy inspired by the classic Ben Jonson play of the same name (1606). This Volpone premiered at Wolf Trap in 2004.

Guest conductor John McKeever, a UNCSA alumnus with a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Colorado Boulder, conducts the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra. And what an orchestra it is! They played the challenging score with equal amounts of feeling and technical skill and never overwhelmed the singers.

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<p>UNCSA’s <i>Passing Strange</i> Dazzles across Genres, Themes, & Time Zones</p>

UNCSA’s Passing Strange Dazzles across Genres, Themes, & Time Zones

Posted by | Mar 24, 2022 | , ,

UNC School of the Arts‘ Department of Drama and Department of Design and Production are currently presenting the genre-busting rock musical Passing Strange, by singer-songwriter and performance artist Stew. The show is one of too few Broadway musicals that capture the African American experience as written and performed by African American artists. In fact, when it debuted in 2008, it was considered such an important part of the African American musical canon that filmmaker Spike Lee recorded and released the last three performances of the Broadway production. The production of Passing Strange at UNCSA reflects the School of Drama’s ongoing effort to broaden its programming to include more work created by historically underrepresented communities in the entertainment industry – and it succeeds gloriously.

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