Northern Kentucky University’s School of the Arts is streaming “Gallantry” by Douglas Moore, a one-act opera parody of soap opera. “Gallantry” is available to view for free on NKU SOTA’s YouTube channel through June 30.
Gallantry is a one-act opera parody of soap opera. It is, in essence, a “soap opera” opera. A surgeon is in love with a nurse engaged to the patient for whom the surgeon is to perform an emergency appendectomy. The opera includes sung commercial interruptions between scenes, staying true to early TV live, in-studio commercials.
“One of the biggest challenges is that we’ve done this process in stages, unlike the way we would do it for a live audience,” said Director Audrey Chait, who also serves as Opera Workshop faculty in NKU’s School of the Arts. “We rehearsed musically, we did staging rehearsal, and then audio recorded the show with everyone lip-syncing under their masks during filming. On a fundamental level, I think we still got a lot out of it, and hopefully, the humor comes through behind the mask.”
The NKU cast features Benjamin Barkdoll, Katherine Sharp, Tre Taylor and Ashley Tinch. Norse Media and Chris Strobel graciously provided filming and editing support during the production process.
• What: “Gallantry,” a one-act opera parody of soap opera.
• When: Available now through June
• Where: NKU School of the Arts YouTube Account
• Admission: Free to watch
Creating opera with COVID-19 health restrictions required the team to think outside of the box and develop creative solutions. This primary goal was to safely create opera while incorporating new experiences. The entire process was in compliance with the Norse Nine Guidelines with safety at the forefront.
To learn more about the School of the Arts on-demand performances, visit the website.
