UNA Opera and Musical Theater Present ciao Firenze!

Nov. 09, 2021

Ellen McDonald , at media@wybxx.com

FLORENCE, AL - Opera and Musical Theatre at the University of North Alabama will be performing “Ciao Firenze” on Friday and Saturday at the Stone Lodge on the UNA campus.

The program is a celebration of all things “Florence,” according to Dr. Thomas Angerhofer, “Ciao Firenze” director and Director of Opera and Musical Theatre at UNA. Some of the selections are sung in Italian; the setting for the production is primarily Florence, Italy; and one of the songs was composed by a person named Florence.

“The program is also my first production here at UNA as Director of Opera and Musical Theatre,” said Dr. Angerhofer. “The title of our program is a way of greeting and introducing myself and our developing opera and musical theatre program to the community.”

The live performance is the culmination of the hard work that students in the Opera and Musical Theatre workshop have put in to make the show ready, he said. In the workshop, students have explored movement, improvisation, acting, and character analysis.

Getting to take on a live performance is part of the educational process, said Dr. Sara Lynn Baird, Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering.

“One of the most important aspects for the education of students in music or any of the performing arts is the opportunity for them to experience live performance in front of an audience,” she said. “Live performance affords students the chance to develop their own stage presence, hone their sense of timing in a live performance, learn to manage the demands of the performance to gauge their stamina, and learn how to deal with their energy and nerves in a live performance. It is a critical part of their curricula in the arts.”

Tickets are free with registration, and registration can be found here.