Everything Nac

Rehearsal time lost during spring break is always a consideration for the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music as it prepares to present the SFA Opera Theater each spring.

But throw in an additional seven days of lost rehearsal time caused by an unprecedented winter storm that shut down the entire state of Texas for a week, and you have a situation that demands creative, detailed scheduling to make up for lost time.

Dr. Deborah Dalton, associate professor of voice at SFA, believes the voice students can and will rise to the challenge.

“We are scrambling,” she said. “We lost six two-hour rehearsals to the storms, so now we are playing catch-up. It is difficult but not impossible.”

This year’s opera theatre, scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, March 25 through 27, will feature portions of two operas: Act I of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Così fan tutte,” or “School for Lovers,” followed by Act II finale of “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss. These selections were made with COVID-19 social distancing protocols in mind, Dalton said.

“I needed to find something with a small cast – six roles – in order to be able to observe social distancing for safety,” she said. “It would also need to be shorter so that we could use the disinfecting foggers every 30 minutes. ‘Così fan tutte’ fit those parameters and offers the singers an opportunity to learn how to sing Mozart recitatives.”

Additionally, SFA’s production of two shorter operas in 2020, “The Medium” and “Sister Angelica,” only had men in an offstage chorus. Then COVID hit, and the School of Music had to cancel all performances. As a result, Dalton was looking for a work that would feature some of those younger vocalists whose performance opportunities were cut short last year by the pandemic.

“I needed to find a piece that featured a chorus to give the younger singers some stage experience,” Dalton said. “The Act II finale of ‘Die Fledermaus’ is roughly 15 minutes long. The chorus is featured in some of the most gorgeous waltzes by the “Waltz King,” Johann Strauss.”

Directing an opera performance in a pandemic has its share of obstacles to overcome.

“That has really been a challenge for all of us,” Dalton said. “All of the singers will perform masked, and as I said previously, we must take breaks every half hour to fog the stage. It has taken lots of creativity to stage the love scenes with the lovers 6-to-10 feet apart. For ‘Die Fledermaus,’ the challenge is to place the chorus far enough apart to be socially distant on a much smaller stage – Cole Concert Hall.”

Opera performances traditionally take place on the spacious stage in W.M. Turner Auditorium. But with Griffith Fine Arts Building in the midst of a major renovation and expansion project, most music performances are now being held in Cole Concert Hall.

Because of other pandemic-related limitations, costume design and set design were also scaled back. For ‘Così,’ the costumes are rented from Norcostco, a costume rental company in Dallas. This presentation of “Fledermaus” is set in contemporary time, so the men have been asked to wear tuxedos, and the women, an evening gown similar to a prom dress. A few special costumes were rented from Norcostco, as well.

“We’re still working on a solution for the sets,” Dalton said. “Our venue is a concert hall stage, not a theater, so there are no curtains or line sets to hang back drops. The beautiful costumes, props and some furniture pieces will suggest time and place.”

Creative scheduling is helping to make up for lost rehearsal time.

“Assistant director Nita Hudson does a wonderful job scheduling our rehearsals in a way that each segment of a show is blocked/sung by both casts in one rehearsal, and then we work on that same segment a few days later,” Dalton explained. “I am confident that our students will rise to this challenge and perform beautifully.”

The memorable music and funny story lines for each of the operas should give patrons a respite from the anxiety of the past year, Dalton said.

“I hope that patrons will enjoy a break from the stresses of this past year and leave smiling and humming the beautiful tunes,” she said. “I also hope they realize all the many hours and hard work that these students have put into their performances in addition to all of their classes, COVID, snow and ice storms, etc.

“The finale of Act I in ‘Così’ is hilarious!” she added. “The men, disguised as Albanians, are wooing each other’s fiancés in order to win a bet that the ladies will remain faithful and not give in to the temptation of these exotic visitors. The men rush in drinking ‘poison’ because the ladies have rejected their advances. Chaos ensues. The ladies are shocked, the men are delighted, and the maid comes in disguised as a famous doctor to take away the effects of the poison. It definitely leaves you laughing and wanting more!”

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, March 25 through 27, in Cole Concert Hall. Seating is limited, and audience members will be required to wear face masks and social distance from others not in their immediate group. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, visit finearts.sfasu.edu or call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407. Free access to online, livestreamed performances will be available at music.sfasu.edu each night. For more information about the School of Music, call (936) 468-4602.

Researchers at Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture are working with the National Park Service and Florida State Parks to ensure the history and stories of African Americans and other people of color are properly represented in interpretive site programming.

Arkansas Post National Memorial, located near Gillet, Arkansas, is situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and White rivers, and is the traditional homeland of the indigenous Quapaw people.

In 1686, French explorer Henri de Tonti established a trading post at a Quapaw village known as Osotouy. The trading post, Poste de Arkansea, is noted as being the first semi-permanent European settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley. Due to its location, the site served as a strategic resource for the French, Spanish, American and Confederate militaries.

“Site managers have information on the French, Spanish and Quapaw connection to the site, but they realized the element of African American history was missing,” said Dr. Rolonda Teal, research associate and adjunct professor at SFA.

To collect these missing pieces, Teal and Dr. Pat Stephens Williams, SFA professor of human dimensions in natural resources, are conducting an ethnographic overview and assessment of African American history at the Arkansas Post National Memorial.

“An ethnographic study looks at the people and the stories surrounding the park site,” Stephens Williams said. “We’re looking into the site’s history to fill some of the holes and expand the narrative. You know there’s this whole history there, but when you look at the standard historical account of the site, you barely see African Americans mentioned at all.”

This isn’t the first time Stephens Williams has worked with the Arkansas Post National Memorial to strengthen its historical narrative. As a faculty member at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, she conducted similar ethnographic and recreation research focusing on African American connections to the site dating back to the 1930s.

For the current research, the site managers wanted to delve further back in time — beginning in the 1700s.

“It is not until the post-Civil War era that historic records on African Americans are more readily available,” said Fenn Wimberly, superintendent of Arkansas Post National Memorial. “Historic literature indicates African American slaves lived at the post during the Civil War, and their labor was used to assist in the construction of Fort Hindman and the Confederate rifle trenches.”

A key focus of Teal’s investigation is the site’s relationship to the Underground Railroad, a network of routes and individuals who assisted enslaved people in escaping to freedom.

After sharing a number of her findings with the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, which is responsible for verifying connections to the Underground Railroad network, Teal was able to confirm the site was, in fact, connected.

Additionally, Teal uncovered documentation of enslaved African Americans escaping to live with the neighboring Choctaw tribe, which sheds light on the relationship between the two groups.

“The park visitor center is planning to have new exhibits installed that accurately represent all cultures, people and history that have connections to the post,” Wimberly said. “Having a more complete, inclusive story will help visitors understand the park’s purpose, which is to commemorate and interpret the peoples and cultures that inhabited the successive settlements at the confluence of the White, Arkansas and Mississippi rivers.”

In Florida, Stephens Williams and Teal are on a similar mission to facilitate the telling of these lesser-known histories and connections to individual sites.

“Expansion of the narrative is the term that we’re using with these projects,” Stephens Williams said. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to do — expand the narratives to make these sites relevant to people and help visitors change the way they look at things.”

Stephens Williams said their goal is not to tell visitors what to think, but to provide them with a more inclusive and robust history of the site than what has traditionally been presented.

“What we want to do is give them a fair representation of the real story, and then they can draw whatever conclusions they want,” Stephens Williams said. “The more you talk about these stories, the more they become part of the general story and the collective memory as it moves forward.”

To achieve this, Stephens Williams and Teal will host a series of workshops at Florida State Parks to equip staff members with techniques to view and interpret their respective sites from more of a multicultural perspective.

Stephens Williams and Teal said many of the sites have not had their stories, exhibits or signage updated since the 1960s, and the subject matter will be unique to each park.

“The first three parks we will work with have a strong African American component that’s not being covered by interpretive programming,” Teal said. “Another site may have a strong Puerto Rican connection, so I’ll cater our workshop to better fit that site’s needs. The main thing is that we don’t forget any ethnic group that was involved in the building of Florida.”

Both Stephens Williams and Teal say it is exciting that Florida State Parks independently initiated this project.

“As far as I know, Florida is really the first state to say, ‘We want all of our parks brought up on board,’” Teal said. “So, it’s like creating a template that we can perhaps package and bring to other places.”

For more information on this and other projects, visit atcofa.sfasu.edu.

Story by Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator for SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture. Contact information: fullersa@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-1185.

Students in Stephen F. Austin State University’s hospitality administration program invite you to celebrate the Kentucky Derby on April 9, with dinner, drinks and a silent auction at The Fredonia Hotel.

The third annual Hospitality Shindig begins at 6 p.m. with a cash bar reception featuring a bourbon tasting. Dinner, which begins at 7 p.m., will be prepared and served by SFA hospitality administration students.

Derby attire, including fancy hats, pastel dresses, seersucker suits and bow ties, is encouraged.

“The goal of this student-run event is to teach students how to plan and implement an event, including drawing up a budget, creating a menu, marketing the event, selling tickets, recruiting sponsors and booking live entertainment,” said April Smith, an instructor for SFA’s School of Human Sciences. “This event involves students from throughout the hospitality program.”

Shelby Sellars, a senior from Decatur, said, “We hope to wow the guests by demonstrating through this hands-on learning experience how we work together to plan and execute an engaging event with fine food and entertainment for the community.”

Ireland Bramhall, a senior from Ennis, added, “We want the guests to have fun while celebrating this great tradition that dates back to 1876.”

The Kentucky Derby, known as “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” draws more than 150,000 people every year to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

SFA’s Kentucky Derby dinner and auction serve as fundraisers to support hospitality administration student scholarships, field trips, conferences and faculty development activities. Sponsorship opportunities are available for the event.

“Our whole industry is about gaining experience and the knowledge to apply to our everyday lives,” said Macie Pelt, a sophomore from Waxahachie. “That is what SFA gives us. From our learning here, we are able to launch a successful career.”

The public can purchase tickets for $60, a pair of tickets for $100 and a table for six for $300 at sfasu.edu/give/hmsevent.

For more information about sponsorships, email Smith at alsmith@sfasu.edu.

By University Marketing Communications