Revisioned ‘Faust’ to take stage

Charles Gounod’s “Faust” has undergone a makeover at the hands of stage director Tomer Zvulun and his cast.  

The opera, which first debuted in Paris in 1859, was originally set in 16th century Germany — something Zvulun decided to amend.

“We decided to rework the concept of Faust’s journey from scratch,” Zvulun said. “Instead of the time period in which Gounod intended, we open the opera in present day.”

As the original story progresses, Faust makes a deal with the devil to become a young man again but stay in his present day. This is another place where Zvulun’s direction differs.

“Instead of keeping Faust in the same time period, we took him back to his original youth in the 1930s,” Zvulun said.

“Faust” is set to open at 8 p.m. Friday at the Musical Arts Center. There will be additional performances Saturday and March 4 and 5.

Retooling the show to fit the form of a flashback was no small feat, Zvulun said, but it was rewarding nonetheless.

“Our production crew dealt with a lot of technical media that isn’t usually handled in the opera,” Zvulun said. “The show itself is also equally challenging for students to perform; the music is very challenging.”

While opera may be the most challenging form of vocal performance, master’s student Rebecca Nathanson said she was ready to rise to the occasion of taking on the role of Faust’s lover, Marguerite.

“Opera is like the musical Olympics,” Nathanson said. “The whole cast is trained and prepared to sing with our whole bodies. If a singer is able to perform in this way, opera is the most fulfilling and enriching form of vocal performance one can do.”

The production of “Faust” is double-casted to ensure all students had the opportunity to gain experience within the opera. Both IU student Andrew Lunsford and IU doctoral student Jonathan Matthews will have the opportunity to appear as Faust in the upcoming performances.

“Double casting is beneficial in student productions to further the experiences of the actors, but it also gives us the chance to see how another performer would act out the same role,” Matthews said. “It gives us a very well-rounded perspective.”

The chance to collaborate with other aspiring opera stars is something Lunsford said he is equally grateful for.

“I have come a long way from my first voice lesson three years ago,” Lunsford said. “I actually didn’t have an opinion of opera before that.”

Lunsford previously owned a company that has since gone out of business. After losing his job and a chance encounter with an opera CD, he said he found his talent for singing.

“Once I realized that I could sing loud and high, and that was a rarity, I decided to come to IU and pursue my performer diploma,” Lunsford said.

Lunsford said everyone has been extremely receptive of his decision to become an opera singer, and the support of the cast of “Faust” has been remarkable.

Second year doctoral student Heather Youngquist, who will also be appearing as Marguerite, agreed that this particular cast of “Faust” has been lucky to develop a sense of community.

“Tomer has been very receptive to all of the actors as far as our vision for our characters,” Youngquist said. “This production really has been a special collaborative process.”