By: Stephanie Turaj
Posted In: News
Photo credit: Stephanie Turaj
Dancers act out the characters of “Peter and the Wolf”
In a theatre surrounded by white walls with gold carvings, several balconies, red carpeting and wooden floors, dancers dressed in costumes of wolves and ducks leap, prance and crawl on stage. Behind these dancers, colorful screen projections act as a backdrop and illustrate the characters of these dancers. Meanwhile, an Orchestra plucks and strums on string instruments, plays on oboes and flutes, and bangs on drums. And somewhere in the midst of this performance a children’s tale is being narrated.
“Peter and the Wolf” was presented as collaboration between Salve Regina’s Department of Performing Arts and the Department of Art on Saturday, Oct. 16, at the Stanford White Casino Theatre. Performances were at 10 a.m. Friday, and 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday. This was the first Salve Regina-sponsored show at the newly renovated theatre. “Newport is fortunate and blessed in having this magnificent theater up and ready again,” said alumna and Newport resident Pat Toppa, ’89, in her introduction to the performance. The performance was directed by Dr. Joseph Ceo, adjunct faculty in the music department. According to SalveToday, Ceo first produced and conducted “Peter and the Wolf” with Musica Dolce two years ago. Pat Toppa narrated the performance. Nicole Dionne, a junior, stage-managed the performance. She said it was nice to see all of the art departments getting together, including the theatre, art, and music departments. Salve Regina dance students choreographed the music and dance, and the art department created the projections used during the performance. The orchestra was comprised of students and community members, and dance students acted out the narration. The performance began with two opening numbers performed by the orchestra, including “Toy Symphony” by Mozart. “Peter and the Wolf” tells the story of a young boy name Peter who, despite his Grandfather’s scolding, visits a meadow and eventually becomes a hero by capturing a wolf. According to SalveToday, Russian composter Prokofiev created and wrote the story of “Peter and the Wolf.” Each character in the story is represented by a different instrument or group of instruments: Peter by the strings, the bird by the flute, the duck by the oboe, the cat by the clarinet, the wolf by the French horns, and the hunters by the drums. Bethany Arnold, a junior and a performer for the cat melody in the orchestra, said her favorite part of the performance was the “end where they are in this marching procession. All the parts come together.” Arnold said the performance was challenging to learn and took hours upon hours of practice. “[It was] a fun production,” said Katie Winn, a junior, who danced the narration of the wolf. “I got really close to the girls. [It was] also different to work onstage with the orchestra.” Winn also said she liked that they were the first group to perform on the new stage. The Casino Theatre is located behind the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Freebody Street.
