orchestra with a libretto based on the biblical text.
The Opera - RUTH
by
James Niblock
Prologue and Act I
Prologue and Act II
Epilogue
CAST
Ruth..........................................................Soprano
Naomi......................................................Contralto
Chilion (Act 1) Foreman (Act 2).......................Tenor
Priest (first act) Boaz (second act)......................Bass
Orpah................................................Mezzo-soprano
Mahlon........................................................Baritone
Chorus (SATB) .....Cast as towns-people and workers
Dancers
ORCHESTRA
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in B-flat
2 Bassoons
2 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in B-flat
2 Trombones
1 Percussion
Strings
Please Note:
The Opera, RUTH, was commissioned by BLFAC with the
stipulations that as many students be involved as would adequately represent
the several Fine Arts opportunities offered at the camp. Hence, the opera
contains Chorus, Ballet, and Modern Dance sequences that may not be appropriate
or possible for all producers.
For this reason and also for the possibility of featuring 2
one-act operas on some occasions, Dr. Niblock is revising the RUTH score to be of 1
hour duration, thereby reducing
the number of participants (singers, dancers, and
instrumentalists). This revised
version is scheduled for performance at BLFAC in the summer of 2009.
orchestra with a libretto based on an O. Henry short story.
Libretto: Helen Niblock
SYNOPSIS: This well-known and beloved story by O. Henry is set in Greenwich Village, New York City, in the early 1900s. Here William Henry Porter gives us another of his swift, deft glimpses into the tragic-comic lives of ordinary people.
In the run-down dingy apartment building, three artists struggle to make a living. Two young ladies, Sue and Josie, much like today’s college room or apartment mates, are quite compatible though very different in temperament. Their neighbor, an elderly German immigrant, is a reliable friend who, while often inebriated, is a father figure and sometimes even a useful model.
When the fall flu season strikes one of the girls, events unfold revealing many universal strengths and weaknesses of human nature…all with the attendant ironies that are O. Henry’s trademark.