Opera Workshop to Present Riders to the Sea and Trial by Jury

Bradley University’s Opera Workshop, under the direction of Dr. Kerry Walters, and the Bradley Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Tim Semanik, will present a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Riders to the Sea and Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury on Friday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Dingeldine Music Center, located at 1417 W. Barker Avenue. Tickets are $5 for adults and free for students.
First performed on December 1, 1937, Riders to the Sea is a one-act opera based on the play of the same name by Irish playwright John Millington Synge.  The action takes place on the desolate Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. The central character is Maurya, a widow who, as the opera opens has already lost her husband, father-in-law and four sons to the sea. Her fifth son Michael is missing at sea, but she will not believe he is gone unless his body is
discovered. The featured guest artist is Bradley alumna Rebecca Crumrine singing the role of Maurya. Bradley students Becca Largent, Anne Gonzalez and Alex Pullen sing the roles of Cathleen, Nora and Bartley.
In Trial by Jury, the story is centered on Edwin and Angelina, an engaged couple. When Edwin tires of Angelina he falls in love with someone else, and Angelina brings him to court to sue for breach of promise.  The role of the Judge will be sung by Alex Scranton with Jordan Avellino as Angelina, Randy Sperry as the defendant Edwin, Aria Cramer as the Counsel for the Plaintiff and Tyler Smith as the Usher. 
For more information, call 677-2601.