Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

Over-the-top emotions, romance, scandal and humour are the hallmark of The Merry Widow, the 2019 production being staged by the Picoplat Music Development Foundation as part of T&T Operafest 2019. The show will take place from July 5 to 7 at The Little Carib Theatre, along with free masterclasses between July 1 and 3 and an open dress rehearsal for students.

The operetta The Merry Widow was originally written in German as Die lustige Witwe) by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The operetta has been translated to English for this performance. It tells the story of Hanna Glawari (Picoplat Creative Director Natalia Dopwell), who inherits a vast fortune following the death of her husband, and while visiting Paris is wooed by several men for her money. Baron Zeta (Krisson Joseph) realizes that if she marries a Frenchman, her entire fortune could be withdrawn from the state bank of Pontevedro, bankrupting their tiny nation, but he has a master plan involving the notorious flirt Danilo (Edward Cumberbatch). He has no idea that Hanna and Danilo already have a complicated history, or that his own wife Valencienne (Anneliese Kelly) is falling in love with the dashing Parisian Camile (Jake Salloum). Scandal and intrigue abound as the Widow fights societal expectations to make her choice of suitors.

Kelly said she believes audiences will enjoy the show because it is not what they would expect from opera. “Everyone has this view of opera just being boring, they think it’s just sitting down and listening to singing. But as Trinidadians, we are a scandalous society and once they realize there is scandal in this story and they can relate to it because it happens in day to day situations, then they really will enjoy it, and it has a lot of humour and we love to laugh as well.”

T&T Operafest 2019 also features community outreach opportunities, with the support of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, through a free open dress rehearsal of the operetta for school children on July 4, as well as three free masterclasses with visiting Professor Hyery Hwang, Opera Musical Director of the University of Memphis. Vocalists and music teachers are welcome to attend these sessions which will be held from 5 to 8pm at Credi in Belmont on July 1, Susumachar Church in San Fernando on July 2 and USC Campus in St. Joseph on July 3.

Dopwell says offering the free shows for students is an important part of the Festival every year. “I think a lot of people say they don’t like opera instinctively, even though the only reference they have for it is the Orange on Sesame Street. They’ve made up their minds even if they’ve never experienced it, and the one group of people I know don’t have that prejudice are children and so I think it’s important to make sure that children are exposed to theatre and opera. Every single time we have a show we make sure some kids get to see it for free, and they love it, and that means we can do something about the fact that the average age of theatregoers in this country just keeps getting older and older. If we don’t do something to attract younger people, there goes the arts, so I think it’s very important that you reach out to a new audience and give them the opportunity to access something for free that they might never have thought they might enjoy, and if they could move on into the rest of their lives without that prejudice against an entire art form they’ve never experienced, then we’ve won a battle.”

She said the masterclasses are carried out as part of the Foundation’s focus on developing the musicians of T&T. “The Festival targets singers who want to develop not just their voices, but also their ability to move onstage and understand a full role, and so in doing the masterclasses every year, it’s a way of reaching out to people who are not Picoplats, but people who have excelled, as well as interested people who want to get an idea of what it takes to become an advanced singer. This includes teachers as well, it’s important as a teacher to be open to new information and the more new information you can take in is the more you can pass on to your students. The masterclasses are open to everybody and advanced singers are chosen from all different organisations. The classes are public and they’re free, so anybody at any level can come and watch and learn, and that’s an important way of adding new skills and new information to what you have in your head.”

Shows are 8 pm on July 5 and 6 and 6 pm on July 7. The open dress rehearsal takes place from 1 pm to 4 pm on July 4. The July 5 show is a gala, with tickets costing $500, Tickets on July 6 and 7 cost $250 and on July 6, persons buying four tickets get one free. Tickets for The Merry Widow can be purchased at the Gallery (Long Circular Mall), Craft Creators (The Falls at West Mall and Trincity Mall), and Naparima Bowl (San Fernando) as well as the Little Carib Box Office from June 28.  For more information, For more information, visit www.ttoperafest.com and call 632-2548.