staff photo by phyllis zorn
Three Marion students were part of an opera performance Thursday at the Performing Arts Center.
Not over ’til MHS seniors sing?
Staff writer
Three Marion high school students were able to experience being part of an opera performance Thursday.
Shaliah Ensley, Sara Groening, and Alyera Koehn played nuns in a one-act opera “Suor Angelica,” produced by Music On Site Inc., of Wichita.
The company has performed in Marion before.
The girls didn’t have much time for preparation because rehearsals began Dec. 8, Marion High School music instructor Ruth Springer said.
“It is very little time to put productions together, but they do a fantastic job,” she said. “The students were able to perform alongside professional musicians. They were able to see in this process how playing a role works in a professional setting.”
In “Suor Angelica,” Sister Angelica, who came from a royal family, is rumored to have been sent to a convent by her family as a punishment.
Angelica’s sister, a princess, tells her that Angelica’s illegitimate son has died.
Believing her son is calling for her to meet him in heaven, she drinks poison. Then she realizes that suicide is a mortal sin and believes she has damned herself to eternal separation from her son.