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The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Opera in the end zone breaks barriers

The cast of "La Boheme" plays out a scene during a dress rehearsal Oct. 14 at the Musical Arts Center. "La Boheme" is the Jacobs School of Music's second opera of the season.

IU Opera and Ballet Theater and IU Athletics are pairing up to bring performance to an entirely new level.

Starting at 8 p.m. Friday in Memorial Stadium, audiences can watch Puccini’s “La Bohème” live on the stadium’s Jumbotron as part of Opera in the End Zone.

The event is free and designed to open the opera to more people. The field and stands of the stadium will be open for people prepped with blankets, picnics and lawn chairs.

Ross Coughanour, a baritone from Santaquin, Utah, will play “Marcello” in the production. He described Opera in the End Zone as a “unique event” that makes a venture into “casual opera.”

“It’s important to reduce the barriers,” he said.

He acknowledged the opera can have a pretentious reputation.

However, for the opera to continue on from generation to generation, Coughanour said it has to capture the attention of a variety of people.

In order to reach a wider audience, the Jacobs School of Music paired up with IU Athletics in an “experimental partnership,” according to a press release from the music school.

“Opera won’t continue to grow unless we do some serious outreach,” Coughanour said.

He said people should think of it in the same way as they would for a football game.

Opera does not have to be the stereotypical, high-brow event that people usually think of, Coughanour said. In fact, that sedate atmosphere can take away some of the excitement.

“It didn’t used to be this quiet, formal thing,” he said about the opera. “I really wished they’d treat it more like a party atmosphere.”

To ease those who are new to opera into the event, the music school went with a repeated crowd favorite. It has been staged 14 times at IU since its first appearance with IU Opera in 1950, according to the release.

"‘La Bohème’ is widely considered to be the most popular opera of all time, and this event creates an introduction for those who have never attended before,” said Gwyn Richards, dean of the IU Jacobs School of Music.

Set in 19th century Paris, “La Bohème” is a “story of love and cafe life that unfolds during the Christmas holiday season,” according to the ?release.

Even though the event will expand the audience by hundreds, he is not anxious about having that many more eyes on him.

“Most of us are self-centered attention seekers,” he said, bursting into laughter. He then described the average opera singer as a “boisterous person who can’t ?shut up.”

Instead of being intimidated by the spike in audiences, he said he is excited.

“The more people we reach, the happier we are,” he said.

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