Opera Theatre presents 'The Bartered Bride'

Grand Valley presents its first full-length opera with Bedrich Smetana's 'The Bartered Bride.' The 2-1/2-hour opera-theatre production is featured in three performances February 7-9 in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on February 7 and 8, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 9. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $7 for seniors, and $5 for students. Call (616) 331-2300 to reserve seats or for more information.

Based on a simple love story, 'The Bartered Bride' illustrates rustic village life and is imbued with vivid, colorful tunes and the energetic spirit of the Czech people. Composer Smetana had intended the production to be a representation of simple Bohemian life; he succeeded so well that the work has become known as the national opera of Czechoslovakia.

The comedic opera features young lovers Jenik and Marenka and their struggle against the stark realities of Marenka's family debt and Jenik's mysterious past. Their troubles are magnified when the local marriage broker, Kacel, uses Marenka's debt to leverage a marriage deal with Vasek, the stuttering son of a local merchant. The plot unfolds with comedy, drama, and lively tunes as the two lovers seek a solution to their dilemma.

More than 25 Grand Valley music and theater students share the stage, with 35 more in the orchestra. The production's stage director is California-based Isabel Milenski, whose past directorships at the Long Beach Opera and the J. Paul Getty Center received enthusiastic reviews.

The multi-faceted 'Bartered Bride' is a challenging undertaking for students, which will make it all the more rewarding for West Michigan audiences, Milenski noted. The music, while 'very beautiful and contagious,' is also 'fast and furious.' Two talented actors share the lead role of Marenka, partly in order to preserve their voices for the stage. And actor Michael Houser, as Marenka's stuttering suitor, has to master the art of stuttering while he sings.

'What is unique about the production is that it reveals the dream world of our characters, in which they teeter on the edge of the surreal,' Milenski said. 'This blurring of reality and dream gives the audience a deeper, more dramatic perspective of their desires and fears.'