vocal maturity to pull off the role. Other students, including Duhrkoop and Price, are also better positioned for success, he says. “Our audiences will get to hear the fruits of their patience and diligent work.” Though students experienced a roller coaster of anticipation, disappointment and delay, they came back ready to take the stage. “We have a truly fantastic, eager, talented and resilient group of singers in this cast,” Baechtel says. Under the direction of William Mouat, the PSU production promises to be a funfilled romp. Set in the Elizabethan era, it unfolds over one full day. “The moon will set and the sun will rise at the very beginning of the show,” Baechtel says. “The audience will be able to follow its progressive track back to the same position by the end.” The comedy leans not only on Shakespeare’s brilliant story, but also on the immensely entertaining Italian comedic tradition of commedia dell ’arte, featuring a familiar set of archetypal characters and stock scenarios—the late-Renaissance equivalent of the sitcom. Audiences can expect broad physical comedy, hilarious misunderstandings and romance. Beyond the current production, big changes are afoot with the PSU program itself. After 15 years of building the acclaimed opera program known for giving undergraduate students performance opportunities in fully staged productions—a rarity in collegiate opera programs—Christine Meadows ’83, voice and opera program director, retired in 2021. Her retirement is bittersweet, Baechtel says.The sweet part is her ongoing mentoring of students, including those preparing for their “Merry Wives” roles. Many of them started the production with her before it was canceled. “We are so grateful that she continues to be such a wonderful colleague and that she has left the program in a better place than she found it,” he says.The production leadership, artistic team and performers have approached “The Merry Wives of Windsor” as a labor of love to bring Meadows’ last opera at PSU to completion. At press time, the search for her replacement was nearing an end. “There are many challenges ahead, but we seek to move the needle in terms of equity and inclusion in this art form,” Baechtel says. Changes in curriculum intend to elevate the work of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, as well as women.The program is also collaborating with PSU’s Queer Opera and bringing in diverse scholars and performers. “PSU Opera is invested in committing our hearts, minds and hard work toward finding a thoughtful balance as we pass on this genre to our students and future audiences,” he says. Portland State Opera’s production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” runs April 22 through May 1. Get tickets at pdx.edu/music-theater/merrywives. —KAREN O’DONNELL STEIN CORPOREAL GESTURES APRIL 4-29 PDX.EDU/ARCHITECTURE/EVENTS/ CORPOREAL-GESTURES In this exhibition organized by Clive Knights, architecture faculty and collage artists from around the world respond to a series of “muses” related to the shared human experience of living in a physical body: breathing, nourishing, sleeping, procreating, communicating and more. “NO EXIT” BY JEAN-PAUL SARTRE MAY 19-28 PDX.EDU/MUSIC-THEATER/NO-EXIT The School of Music and Theater presents “No Exit,” Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist drama in which three deceased characters are locked together in a room, forced to confront their life choices and each other ’s judgment for eternity. MFA/BFA SHOWCASE MAY 24-JUNE 11 (WITH RECEPTION MAY 26, 5-7 P.M.) PDX.EDU/ART-DESIGN/EVENTS/MFA-BFA Join the School of Art + Design in celebrating the work of graduating students in the MFA Contemporary Art Practice (Studio Practice and Art + Social Practice) and BFA Art Practice areas in this exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU. PSU FILM SPRING SHOWCASE STARTING JUNE 3 PSUFILMSPRINGSHOWCASE.COM The School of Film’s online showcase features award-winning student films and essays from the past year and a portfolio show where soon-to-be-graduates present themselves as emerging professionals to friends, family, alumni and the media industry. AN EVENING WITH JIMMIE HERROD, GEORGE COLLIGAN AND PSU JAZZ JUNE 6 PDX.EDU/MUSIC-THEATER/HERROD Vocalist and composer Jimmie Herrod MM ’16, “America’s Got Talent” finalist and 2021 Simon Benson Award recipient, will perform jazz standards and original compositions with a quartet featuring George Colligan, jazz faculty, on piano. The PSU Jazz Band will open the evening with selections from the jazz repertoire. In this Shakespearean comedy, a middle-aged knight (played by John Gladen), tries to improve his financial situation by courting two married women at once (Taylor Hulett, at left, and Ava Price, at right). The ladies decide to teach him a lesson, setting off a series of high jinks. EVENTS SO-MIN KANG SPRING 2022 // 15
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