Great Neck North High School students will take the stage to perform a show that marries an interdisciplinary cross section of skills, but there’s a twist: It’s all in French.
North High students will be performing “Carmen,” an opera set in Spain and sung in French that features students in elaborate costumes acting and singing to music performed by the school’s orchestra. The show, with performances on Feb. 7, 8 and 9, will include English subtitles on a banner.
The performance includes a 20-member children’s chorus, featuring elementary students in the show alongside the cast of 30 high school students and a 20-member pit orchestra.
“The style is so unfamiliar for many people, but the kids, they accept it and they really run with it,” director Pamela Levy said.
Levy, a lifelong musician, started the opera program at North High seven years ago after joining the school as its Music Department chair and choir director. She previously served as music director for South High’s Music Department for 18 years, where the opera program has been established for more than 50 years.
Levy said a majority of students have not been involved in opera, but the program draws a great interest from the students. The program is accepting of students wherever they are, focusing on exposing them to the style of opera and developing their skills.
“I want them to be exposed to the music,” Levy said.
The intent of the opera program is to introduce students to the art, Levy said. She described it as an “in-reach” program that connects students with opera within their school rather than through an external program.
The production process of an opera is similar to a musical, Levy said, starting with auditions in the fall and a couple of months of practice and rehearsals.
To develop their skills, Levy teaches sight reading and skill building in her chorus class which studies various styles of music.
The opera program also collaborates with the school’s World Language Department, fostering an interdisciplinary experience for students.
This includes opportunities for one student Levy had in mind who is aspiring to be a French teacher. This student has now been tasked with working with the elementary children on the French diction for the show.
Levy said this is why the program is so important as it combines so many disciplines.
“It starts with literature because it starts with a story, then it starts with great music, then there’s costumes, there’s sets, there’s lighting, there’s so many elements, and then of course the singing” Levy said. “So it involves so much.”
She said one of her favorite aspects of teaching opera is the challenge of engaging the students with a new art form and bringing them to a point of pride in achieving a new skill.
“It’s always amazing to me watching the dedication and the passion the students have for it,” Levy said.
Shows will performed on Jan. 7 at 7 p.m., Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 9 at 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online.
