Spotlight on Opera is a professional development program dedicated to providing high quality training and performance opportunities for career track and avocational singers aged 18 and up.

 

Spotlight on Opera is an artistic entrepreneur and professional development program dedicated to providing high quality training and performance opportunities for career track and avocational singers aged 18 and up. Led by Spotlight’s Founder/Executive Director, and renowned mezzo soprano Cindy Sadler, the program is in its 11th season, hosted by Texas State University in San Marcos. The four week summer program features classes in the business of singing, finances, acting, and more; full opera productions, scenes, and concerts; master classes with the industry’s movers and shakers; a student directing program; audition videos and headshots for all participants; and more. They maintain a strong presence in Austin and throughout Central Texas with touring children’s opera and concerts.

Spotlight on Opera is open to classical and musical theatre singers of all ages and aspirations, whether they aspire to a stage career or just want to sing for fun and personal enrichment. The staff of professional opera singers, pianists, and educators works with each singer to provide guidance and growth as an artist. The program strives to give every singer a chance to experience the spotlight for themselves, and to bring audience members creative, fun, intimate, and high-quality performances.

Much more than a wonderful singing experience, Spotlight has engaged some of the finest professionals in the opera industry to lecture on important topics such as Holistic Health with coach Lauren McNeese Feldman, Stage & Self Audition Techniques by Shawn Jeffery, Managing and Growing your Classical Singing Business, taught by Cindy Sadler, Spotlight’s Executive Director, and Jeremiah Johnson’s: Music & Money 101: Budget for Musicians.

Upcoming operas begin this weekend!

Go to www.spotlightonopera.com for more information, directions and tickets.

DOUBLE FEATURE: L’enfant et les sortiliges with Trouble in Tahiti                                                                                                     

Sat Jul 22nd 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Sun Jul 23rd 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Recital Hall, Texas State University Performing Arts Center, 405 Moon St, San Marcos, TX 78666

L’enfant et les sortileges/ The Child and the Spells

A naughty child who routinely mistreats his toys, furniture, and even the plants and animals in the garden, learns a lesson when they come to life and take revenge for his bad behavior. Composed in 1917, this short fantasy opera features a delicate, magical score by Maurice Ravel ( of Bolero fame) and a libretto by the famous French novelist Colette. Sung in French with supertitles.

Trouble in Tahiti

Beneath a veneer of the perfect American suburban life of the 1950s (as illustrated by a jazzy Greek chorus), Sam and Dinah struggle to find their way back to the happy marriage they once shared. Based on the relationship of composer Leonard Bernstein’s own parents, the centerpiece of the opera is Dinah’s hilarious and showstopping recounting of the hot new movie she’s just seen … “Trouble in Tahiti”. Sung in English

Prince Orlofsky’s Ball                                                                                                                                            

Sat Jul 29th  7:00pm – 10:00pm
Sun Jul 30th 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Recital Hall, Texas State University Performing Arts Center, 405 Moon St, San Marcos, TX 78666

At the sumptuous Viennese villa of an eccentric and eternally bored Russian prince, Dr. Falke sets the stage for an elaborate revenge plot against his dear friend, Gabriel Eisenstein, who recently humiliated him publicly by leaving him on a park bench after a masquerade ball — drunk, and dressed as a giant bat. But in addition to the famous cast of Die Fledermaus characters, including Eisenstein’s own wife and maid, all the other guests are characters who have wandered in from various operas! Violetta and Alfredo, the Bohemians, Candide and Cunegonde, Ernesto and Norina, Frederick, Mabel, and all the Stanley girls make an appearance for an evening of sparkling frivolity and hit tune after hit tune, including The Champagne Trio, Sempre Libera, the Boheme Quartet, Glitter and Be Gay, and more. With music by Johann Strauss, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Gilbert & Sullivan, Leonard Bernstein, and Giacomo Puccini and an original libretto by Spotlight’s own Executive Director, Cindy Sadler, this will be a ball to remember! Sung in English and Italian with supertitles.

The Elixir of Love                                                                                                                                                      

Sat  Aug 5th  7:00pm – 10:00pm
Sun Aug 6th 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Harrison Theatre, Texas State University Performing Arts Center, 405 Moon St, San Marcos, TX 78666

Average Joe Nemorino loves Adina, the richest, prettiest girl in town, but he can’t compete with the swaggering hero Belcore … until Dr. Dulcamara rolls in to peddle his miraculous elixir of love! Donizetti specializes in comedies with heart; while the vivacious melodies will have you tapping your toes, Nemorino’s famous aria “Una furtiva lagrima” may have you wiping away a furtive tear of your own. Sung in Italian with English supertitles.