The Winthrop Opera Theatre hosted its annual showcase “A Night of Musical Theatre” to students and families on Oct. 29. The well-received program featured 90 minutes of the Winthrop Opera Theatre students performing select songs from classic or modern musicals. Jeffery McEvoy, the director of the Winthrop Opera Theatre, was pleased with how the performance allowed students to express their voices to their friends and family.
“The highlight for me is seeing the students have an audience to perform for,” McEvoy said.
The opening number was “Some Enchanted Evening” from the 1949 musical “South Pacific,” which was performed by junior piano major Nicholas Willey. He chose this song as “South Pacific” was his favorite musical and works as a compliment to his performance in the show.
“One of my favorite musical theatre eras is the 1940s-1950s” Willey said. “This song was perfect for my bass voice.”
One of the challenges and surprises was freshmen music vocal performance major Lauren Pace, who performed “Jimmy” from the 1967 musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “She Used to be Mine” from the 2015 musical “Waitress”. Pace found herself dealing with an unexpected roadblock during the show, which she was able to manage.
“I was sick, so it was hard to overcome the sick voice,” Pace said.
Professor of music and director of Jazz Studies L.H. Dickert and instructor Lannia Broñola-Dickert were part of the performance playing the bass and piano respectively. Their music helped provided the appropriate tempo and music to help the students convey the emotion of each song.
“Lannia played the piano for all of our rehearsals and the performance,” McEvoy said. “We had Dickert to join us on the bass [for the show].”
Another highlight of the performance was junior choral music education major NeTorrian Patton. Patton performed the songs “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” from the 1950s musical “Guys and Dolls” and “This Is the Moment” from the 1990 musical “Jekyll and Hyde”. The opportunity to sing “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” let Patton try something new.
“I just wanted to explore some character tenor for this semester,” Patton said.
Another highlight of the evening’s performance was “Gethsemane” from the 1971 musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Junior choral music major Cameron Wesley Jr. performed with passion which complemented the rock opera tempo which he researched before performing.
“There was a lot of research on how [the song] was performed in the past,” Wesley said.
Some of the key songs and performances by students during the show included “”Ladies Who Lunch” from “Company”, “I Believe” from “Book of Mormon”, “Maria” from “West Side Story” and “Make Them Hear You” from “Ragtime”.
“I thought everyone did an amazing job, so I can’t pick my favorite song,” Pace said.
Overall, the performance of the Winthrop Opera Theatre was a success and McEvoy is expecting the students to improve from this performance and work on their upcoming shows in the spring semester.
“I’m looking to see how [the students] top it again this year,” McEvoy said.
