This weekend, the Howard Payne University Opera Workshop will present The Emperor’s Clothes, an operetta by Joseph Clokey. Performances will be on Friday, November 19, and Saturday, November 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Mims Auditorium.
Tickets, which are $5 for adults and $4 for students, can be purchased at the Howard Payne University School of Music and Fine Arts in the Davidson Music Complex. For ticket purchases or more information, call the office at 325-649-8500.
The opera, based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” is the story of the Emperor of Gran Manteau who is consumed with his wardrobe.
When two con artists come to town, the self-proclaimed “best dressed emperor in all of Christendom” agrees to buy from them a suit of clothes that only the truly intelligent and loyal subjects of the emperor can see. Only after the children of the town point out that he really has nothing on but underwear does the emperor realize that he has cared more for clothing that his own daughter. The two are reconciled, the cheats are imprisoned and all live happily ever after. This musical adaptation is a comic operetta suitable for the entire family.
The Opera Workshop, under the artistic direction of Dr. Celeste Church, assistant professor of music, is comprised of students who are music majors and minors, as well as students from other schools on campus.
Jesse Smith, vocal performance major from Comanche, will portray the role of the emperor. The emperor’s daughter is played by senior vocal performance major Samantha Fenwick, from Longview, and her fiancé is portrayed by David Watson, senior music education major from Early. The con artists Flou Flou and Fripon are played by music education senior Denise Wathen, from San Antonio, and senior theatre major Darren McElroy, from Plano. The emperor’s chancellor will be performed by Jonathon Cox, Brownwood native majoring in music education.
For this production, the cast is joined by dancers from Amy’s Dance Academy in Brownwood, as well as members of the First Baptist Church of Brownwood children’s choir. Dr. Gregory Church, assistant professor of music, is musical director and conductor of the Opera Workshop, and Dr. Elizabeth Wallace, professor of music, will accompany the performances on piano.
