Broadway Bound: students in MUS 284: Techniques for the Singing Actor sing, perform, direct for final grade

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Students gave an all-or-nothing final performance at Staples Family Concert Hall on Monday Night.

The 18 individuals, enrolled either by choice or requirement in MUS 284: Techniques for the Singing Actor, participated in the production of 14 classic opera and musical pieces with song, dance and directing — all up to them.

For East Lansing graduate student Amy Sarow, the choreography and variety of opera and musicals was most impressive.

“The students put a lot of effort into it and it showed,” she said.

Florida senior Adam Ignacio performed in an emotional piece from the opera “Pagliacci.”

“It’s a great opportunity to get together with some of the best singers in the building and work with that talent,” he said.

Many pieces came from foreign operas and voices in German, Italian and French could be heard from the stage.

Constantine junior Taylor Stevens falls into the arms of Coldwater junior Chelsea Hart during their performance of “Sorella, cosa dice?” from “Cosi fan tutte” Monday night during the Techniques for the Singing Actor recital at the Staples Family Concert Hall. Students from Associate Professor Eric Tucker’s MUS 284A: Techniques for the Singing Actor each performed and directed a piece for their final grade. (Paige Calamari/Staff Photographer)

For many students, it was one show in a long line of vocal performances, but the additional assignment of each having to single-handedly direct a piece created posed a novel challenge.

Performer Paul Melcher, an Allendale graduate student, said seeing the production from a different perspective was very interesting. He performed a piece from the opera “Le nozze di Figaro.”

“You’re more sympathetic for what a director goes through, as a performer,” Melcher said. “It was a real challenge, but allowed us to get to know our peers a little more.”

Associate Music Professor Eric Tucker said the added element of directorial responsibility served another purpose.

“Once you learn something for yourself, rather than being told, you own it,” Tucker said. “The students had to learn to take control of the situation.”

Tucker has instructed opera performance at CMU for seven years. He spoke highly of the students after the performance’s conclusion.

“I’d be surprised if you could find this many undergraduates at this level at any institution in the state,” he said.

Each performance accounted for the entire semester’s worth of learning. Tucker said it was to give a realistic assessment of the work put into the class.

“The final grade in the real world is what you can do,” he said. “Not what you know, not what you left in the rehearsal room, but what is seen on stage. Performance is more important that the process.”