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Archived Arts & Entertainment

‘Dead Man Walking’ opera hits Cullowhee

art operaA concert production of “Dead Man Walking” will come to the stage at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 27, in the Coulter Building at Western Carolina University.

 

Based on the acclaimed book and film, the opera examines faith, redemption and the bonds of family as seen through the eyes of a nun who establishes a unique relationship with a convicted murderer who is an inmate on death row in Louisiana’s infamous Angola prison. Of that intimacy is born a spiritual journey that addresses the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the needs of a crime-ridden society and the Christian imperative of love.

“This opera is accessible and understandable to all. The music sounds like a merging of George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein and to me feels more like a theatrical work than an opera,” said David Troy Francis, the production’s musical director.

The cast ranges from veteran performers with the Metropolitan Opera to Susan Belcher (professionally-trained opera singer and wife of WCU Chancellor Belcher) to a regional children’s chorus.

Tickets range in price from $25 to $40 and may be purchased online (with a $3.50 surcharge) at www.tmamp.com or 800.595.4849.