Hurley School of Music presents Opera Centenary April 8/9

SHREVEPORT, La. (Centenary News Service) — The Hurley School of Music presents, "Opera Centenary" Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Anderson Auditorium.

Two short operas, Trouble in Tahiti and The Old Maid and the Thief will be presented both nights.

Trouble in Tahiti, by Leonard Bernstein, is the story of one day in the life of a desperately unhappy married couple — lonely, longing for love, unable and unwilling to communicate. The opera features a quasi-Greek chorus consisting of three singers "born of the radio commercial" who sound like an advertising jingle about an idyllic suburban middle class life of the American 1950s.

More humorous, The Old Maid and the Thief, by Gian-Carlo Menotti, is a twisted tale of morals and evil womanly power. The upstanding but single & aging town busybody, Miss Todd, becomes enamored with an attractive stranger who appears at her door, who may or may not be an escaped criminal. Encouraged by her maid who also has eyes for the stranger, Miss Todd allows him to stay in her home but spirals into a life of crime herself in her misguided attempts to draw the stranger deeper into her lonely life.

Opera Centenary is free and open to the public. For more information, call 318.869.5235.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and has been recognized as "One of the Best 3731 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and one of "America's Best Colleges" and one of "America's Best Private Colleges" by Forbes.com. In 2008 Centenary College celebrated 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.