Opera puts on one last performance

     On May 2 and 3, the USD Opera Department performed the Broadway musical and opera “Light in the Piazza.” The opera is set in Italy in the 1950s, where a southern woman named Clara Johnson meets a young Italian man, Fabrizio Naccarelli and they fall in love.

     Although “Light in the Piazza” is recognized as an opera, it debuted on Broadway as a musical in 2005. It also won a Tony Award for Best Musical Score that same year. It was last performed internationally in 2019 at the Royal Festival Hall.

     Among the USD performers was Max Bruguier, who played the priest and was a background ensemble member. He talked about the work he put in for the opera.

     “I had to go and do a bunch of research for what priests would wear, how they would act in that certain era and how they would carry themselves,” Bruguier said. 

     Although the opera has the style of a classic Broadway musical, it is still classified as a modern opera. Although both are a part of the performing arts, there are still major differences between the two.

     “Operas are almost always sung-though, whereas with musicals, you won’t see that as often,” background ensemble member Madi Maschmann said. ”They’ll tend to be broken up with spoken dialogue.”

     “In operas, we don’t have mics,” Bruguier said. “We are fully dependent on belting all of our notes and being heard from all the way at the back of the audience.” 

     The “Light in the Piazza” was the last major performance by USD’s Opera Department for the 2025-2026 academic year. Although the Opera Department rarely puts on major theatrical arts such as these, Maschmann emphasizes the importance of putting on these performances.

     “The existence of both art forms allows for people with any vocal technique to perform at that caliber. People with voices for musical theater aren’t necessarily going to perform as well in an opera,” Maschmann said.