Students to perform in opera
Staff writer
Three Marion High School students will be part of an opera Thursday at the Performing Arts Center.
Shaliah Ensley, Sara Groening, and Alyera Koehn will perform in “Suor Angelica,” at 7 p.m.
Marion music instructor Ruth Springer will conduct the opera. Admission is free.
The performance is being sponsored by Music On Site, a central Kansas opera company that gets local high school students and teachers involved. The cast will include professional artists from 33 states.
“This is an outstanding opportunity for our students and community,” Springer said. “It is not often we are able to host musicians, especially professional musicians and actors. Students will gain not only the experience of seeing professional acting, singing, lighting and staging, but the experience of seeing and hearing a story told in a new way.
“Opera has a unique way of connecting the audience to the story, and I am excited for our students to experience it. I am especially excited for the many students here who enjoy being involved in musicals to experience this different, but similar, art form.”
In “Suor Angelica,” Sister Angelica, who came from a royal family, is rumored to have been sent to a convent by her family as a punishment.
One day, her sister, a princess, comes to visit and tells Sister Angelica that Angelica’s illegitimate son has died.
Believing her son is calling for her to meet him in heaven, she drinks poison. Then she realizes that suicide is a mortal sin and believes she has damned herself to eternal separation from her son.