‘Little Women’ composer on campus for collegiate opera premiere; Filmmaker Van Peebles public appearance tonight

Melvin Van Peebles

The IU Opera Theater will present the collegiate premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women, Feb. 2, 3, 8 and 9 at the Musical Arts Center (MAC) in Bloomington.

Composer Mark Adamo is in Bloomington for the opening weekend and was scheduled to present a master class, open to the public, today (Feb. 1) at 3:30 p.m. in Ford-Crawford Hall.

In addition, all opening night Little Women ticket holders are invited to meet the composer during the opera “informance” tomorrow (Feb. 2) at 7 p.m. After the show, attendees may join Adamo and the cast at 10:15 p.m. in the MAC Lobby for a curtain call with the composer and cast. Refreshments will be available at both events.

With the exception of the 3 p.m. matinee Sunday (Feb. 3), all performances take place at 8 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center. “Informances” are held in the MAC Mezzanine one hour before curtain time at all performances.

Premiered in 1998 by the Opera Studio of the Houston Grand Opera, Little Women is based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel which was first published in 1869.

Guest conductor Ted Taylor will conduct the Symphony Orchestra for this production of Little Women. Director is Vincent Liotta, head of IU’s opera stage directing program.

IU Opera Theater and Minnesota Opera collaborated for the new production design of Little Women. Minnesota Opera constructed the costumes and IU built the sets, which feature designs by Robert O’Hearn, chair of the Department of Design at the IU School of Music.

Screenwriting workshop

Songwriter, actor and director Melvin Van Peebles, perhaps best known for revolutionizing African-American cinema with the release in 1971 of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and its jazz-flavored soundtrack, was in Bloomington to conduct an intensive workshop for aspiring screenwriters at the Black Film Center/Archive, which ended today (Feb. 1). Twenty students, most of whom were beginning-level writers with specific projects in mind, have studied with Van Peebles all week, said Audrey McCluskey, director of the Black Film Center/Archive. They worked on refining drafts of their screenplays and preparing for a studio “pitch.”

Tonight Van Peebles will speak on “Kickin’ Science” at 8 p.m. in Jordan Hall A100 on the IU Bloomington campus.