Reading Reflection “A Night At The Opera (Cantina)”
“A Night At The Opera (Cantina)” production by Suzan Hanson tells story about a group of enthusiastic women to show moral support to the deployed Allied troops during World War II by set a party in deserted storeroom, somewhere in Europe. The soldiers who arrive are fewer than expected, yet it does not dishearten these women to go on with the party.
The play introduces various angles from different characters and backgrounds. A mother who meets with her daughter again after years gone by, a woman who lost passion tries to kill herself and saved by her friends, a woman who finds out her boyfriend cheats on her, old friends reunited, a composer who finds his courage to share his composed songs, and a wife who lost her husband in the war. Hanson uses a humorous approach to the play by adding some comical acts, for example a soldier makes fun of a love song and learns a lesson from a woman and the act when a soldier rushes in to the party chased by a big guy with a blacked eye.
The show is staged in a very practical set, a couple of small tables and chairs, some props and properly dressed costumes, modest hairdos and makeups, and lighting coordination is simply set.
Hanson puts multi-ethnic cast at work. The production has
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Neither the program booklet mentions it clearly nor in the poster. “A Night At The Opera” is one amongst others production created and produced by Hanson, as an instructor at Pasadena City College as well as director and dramaturge for a great number of performances, “such as North/South (co-creator/director/soprano) for USC Visions and Voices, Smoke and Mirrors: The Alchemy of Desire (Creator/director.co-star) for El Camino College Performing Arts Series, and Medea (translation/adaptation/star) for Long Beach Opera” (Program