Feb. 1, 2024
Contact Judy Myers at jmyers@smumn.edu
VITERBO UNIVERSITY CONSERVATORY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS TO PRESENT THE OPERA LATER THE SAME EVENING FEB. 16–17
LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Conservatory for the Performing Arts will present the opera Later the Same Evening at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17 in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall.
Later the Same Evening was inspired by five paintings from famed American artist Edward Hopper—Room in New York, Hotel Window, Hotel Room, Two on the Aisle, and Automat. The opera imagines the lives of the figures in each of these paintings and connects them as characters one evening in New York City.
“This opera, a unique fusion of art and music, helps depict loneliness, the human connection, and complex relationships in a way words cannot express,” said Viterbo student Ellyn Werner, who plays the role of Elaine O’Neill. “Audiences will love seeing famous paintings brought to life with a fascinating operatic score that mimics daily conversation.”
The story follows 11 people through a series of vignettes as they prepare to attend the premiere of a new Broadway show, offering an imagined glimpse of the events that led them into their places in Hopper's images. After sharing a scene in which all are gathered under the theatre marquee to escape the rain, the characters disappear one by one into the night. Two of the characters see each other again in an automat, and though she declines his offer of a drink, she allows him to walk her to the train.
“This piece is both interesting and complex in terms of the musical score and the narrative,” said Judy Myers, a retired Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota theatre faculty member who is serving as the guest director of the production. “Like much of Hopper’s works, the relationships of his subjects provoke interpretation. I hope this production provides a window into the sense of isolation and communication, or lack thereof, among the characters and that it encourages the viewer to connect or reconnect with Hopper’s vast amount of art.”
Viterbo theatre and music theatre faculty member James Wilson is the music director for the production.
Tickets are $16, plus taxes and fees, for general admission seating. For more information or to order tickets, contact the Viterbo box office at 608-796-3100 or visit www.viterbo.edu/tickets. Tickets are presale only and available at the box office during regular hours and online until the start of the show. No will-call tickets will be available.
Image: "Room in New York" by Edward Hopper, 1932.
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