Feb. 15, 2022
Contact Erin Jerozal at 608-796-3790 or ebjerozal@viterbo.edu
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA PRESENTS: SPEED DATING TONIGHT! AT VITERBO UNIVERSITY FEB. 25–26
LA CROSSE, Wis. – A Night at the Opera Presents: Speed Dating Tonight! will be performed by the Viterbo University Conservatory for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26 in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall.
Speed Dating Tonight! is set at a bar hosting an event of the same name. As the daters begin to arrive, the speed dating coordinator provides the rules for the evening and the audience is introduced to each new character as they begin to move from table to table, all looking to meet that special “someone.”
“I’m hopeful that audiences will experience a fun and heart-warming show,” said Erin Jerozal, director of the production. “So many of us have had to spend time distanced and away from our typical social lives for the past few years. And while the show isn’t about that, these characters are looking for connections that I think we all can relate to.”
Jerozal explained that Speed Dating Tonight! is a unique opportunity for students, in that the composer has written over a hundred songs to choose from, enabling the show to be tailored to the actors and company producing it. Viterbo University’s production has been specifically arranged for the current Conservatory students, in collaboration with the director, music director, and composer.
Written and composed by Michael Ching and based on a concept by Dean Anthony, Speed Dating Tonight! has been performed more than 100 times since its premiere in 2013, making it one of the most popular operas of the 21st Century.
“Ching’s score captures the angst and excitement of dating in a frenetic and fast-paced environment,” said music director James Wilson. “The scenes move along almost as quickly as if it were an actual night of speed dating, lending to a string of musical variety that forms the near antithesis of opera’s traditional (and lengthy) aria and duet structure.”
Show program information, which used to be in a print booklet, will be available to on the Viterbo Fine Arts Center’s new digital platform starting a week before the performance at https://www.viterbo.edu/ShowPrograms.
Tickets are $16 plus taxes and fees for general admission seating. Masks are required to be worn in all indoor public spaces on the Viterbo campus. For more information or to order tickets, contact the Viterbo box office at 608-796-3100 or visit www.viterbo.edu/tickets.
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