By Isabelle Ruff | Intern
Baylor Opera Theatre is getting ready to perform “Luisa Fernanda” — a story about two men fighting for a woman amid the Spanish Revolution of 1868.
“Luisa Fernanda” will be the first opera performed by Baylor Opera Theatre in Spanish. According to director Jen Stephenson, the singing will be in Spanish with a projected translation, and the dialogue will be in English.
“We’re excited about that and to bring that to the community, and it’s been really neat for our students to get to do that,” Stephenson said. “One of the students said she’s really excited because her grandparents will finally be able to understand what she is singing, and I thought that was really meaningful.”
Because the opera is bilingual, Stephenson said it is more accessible to a variety of audiences. All are encouraged to see the show, as Baylor Opera Theatre keeps the production short and allows a casual dress code.
“It’s short, and it’s fun and catchy,” Stephenson said. “If people are interested in coming but they have never been to an opera before, you don’t have to dress up. It’s just like going to the movies.”
Houston senior Giselle Bautista, one of the women playing the title role of Luisa Fernanda, said it is a dramatic and exciting production in which she gets to play a brave and surprising character. “Luisa Fernanda” is one of the many stories that inspired “telenovelas” — Spanish soap operas.
“The story is a love triangle, but it’s happening at the same time as this revolution is going on in Spain,” Bautista said. “You have the rebels going against the queen, and in the end, I have to choose between the two men who have been joining the revolution.”
All participants in the show are music students, including the actors, the choreographer, the set builders and the lighting directors, totaling a 60-member team.
“It’s been really neat to see them do all that work and then also to take pride in what they’re doing,” Stephenson said.
Baylor Opera Theatre will present “Luisa Fernanda” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1-3 and at 3 p.m. Feb. 4 in the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center. Ticket information will be available online through the box office website.
