'Jeppe / The Cruel Comedy'

This Friday the roof will cave in at the IU Musical Arts Center. One of the most modern operas composed will be making its U.S. premiere, and it isn't to be taken lightly.\n"Jeppe/The Cruel Comedy," an abstract modern opera composed by Sven-David Sandstrom, is one of the most anticipated of the year. "Jeppe" plays at 8 p.m. today, Saturday, and Feb. 14 and 15 at the MAC. Tickets run from $15 to $28 for the general public and $10 to $20 for IU students with a valid student ID.\nIU has done several world premieres, but "Jeppe" is the first opera of its kind. It is set in modern times and is based on "Yeppe on the Hill," a work by Scandinavian playwright Ludwig Holberg. Jeppe, the main character, is an alcoholic poet tricked into thinking he died and went to heaven. But Jeppe has not died -- he has been placed on a reality TV show. The opera first played in Stockholm, Sweden, where it ran for six months. \n"I wanted to show the infatuation with reality TV and how people are humiliated publicly and how these programs are profiting on people's mistakes," said Claes Fellbom, guest stage director and librettist. \nSandstrom, who teaches at IU's Composition Department in the School of Music, treats "Jeppe" as a comedy. At the same time, many describe it as a love story. \n"Jeppe is a very complicated character. The piece is a love story, about how love can overcome life's difficulties," said Michael Weineius, who played Jeppe in the Swedish premiere of the show. \nJeppe cannot write poetry as the result of a break-up 10 years before. His wife, Dolly, openly cheats on him, and he drinks to forget the loss, yearning for a better life. Longing is a significant emotion in the opera -- almost every character in the opera has lost something. \n"The opera is about people solving existential problems; it is about longing," Fellbom said. "One guy has lost self confidence, one guy has too much self confidence, and both women want out of their marriages."\nSandstrom said his opera was a theatrical one, with an obvious story line. \n"It's very exciting to be a part of a premiere, with the original stage director," said senior Kate Lindsey, who plays Dolly. "It's an honor to work with Michael Wienius, everyone has been supportive and dedicated to the show." \nThe show operates on a large budget, with a lot of preparation in the past several months. The MAC's stage crew has been building the set since December, and the scene design and text took a year to complete. David Higgins, IU scenic design professor, worked with Sandstrom in Sweden developing a floor plan. \n"It's a very modern staging for a modern theme," Fellbom said. "I'm not a young man, but this is a young staging."\nThe set includes a floating stage set in front of a projection screen. The stage is surrounded by streams of white light. On each side of the stage there are about five TV monitors. \n"('Jeppe') is more like a rock concert than an opera set," Higgins said.\nThe idea for so many visuals came out of the way the opera was written -- all physical references to place had to be eliminated. \n"To have used realistic scenery would have been contrary to the opera. We used abstract things that could be anything," Higgins said.\nMany changes took place in order to prepare for the U.S. premiere. The entire opera had to be translated from Swedish to English, which changed some of the musical composition.\n"The translation is always difficult, but for some reason it suits the English language," Sandstrom said. "The opera is clearer; the second premiere adds clarity. Now we have more of the essence of the opera and its meaning."\nCertain elements of the story were also changed in order for the symbolism to fit American audiences. Some scenes had to be completely edited out and changed from Swedish culture to represent an American perspective. \n"There are many things an American audience wouldn't understand," Fellbom said. "It is not a Swedish opera; it is an American opera. I want the audience to feel at home, not like they are in an exotic country," he said. \nSandstrom said he tried to avoid a lot of changes. But changes had to be made. \n"The melody changed, and the rhythmic patterns changed a little, the music was set to certain syllables," he said. \nOne would expect Weineius to get used to the music and the language after 30 performances as Jeppe in the Swedish production. Despite some changes to the music, Weineius said the piece is romantic. \n"Many have been captured by the piece and the beauty of the music," he said.\nWith every note, Sandstrom tried to capture the emotions of the characters, while also creating a modern opera that's different from others of its kind. \n"If someone hesitates because it is contemporary they should reconsider," Weineius said. "It's very romantic."\nTickets for "Jeppe" are on sale now at the Musical Arts Center box office (open 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday) and at TicketMaster outlets, by phone through TicketMaster at 333-9955 as well as online.