Memories…and a little plug

When I was at Tufts (1992-1997), my first introduction to Torn Ticket II was that first week at orientation.  Narnia was the orientation musical, and I was hooked.  I did a little help for Godspell that first semester (okay, I helped put in and break down the set, nothing spectacular, but I know they needed the help), and then got cast in the spring department production, which that year just happened to be a musical:  The Threepenny Opera.

Even though I was in the Tufts/NEC double-degree program and therefore had very little free time, I still spent every free minute near Balch Arena Theatre over the next five years, and indeed ended up with a Drama degree rather than the Biology degree I originally thought I could swing.  During my time at Tufts, I filled the roles of costume designer/consultant, music director, stage director, and actor.  There was even one night, during the final dress rehearsal for Once On This Island, that our Ti Moune lost her voice completely, and we had no understudy, so I sang her part from the pit while conducting the orchestra as the actress lip-synched on stage.

My core set of friends made up the board of Torn Ticket II, and we were all very gung-ho about trying to keep the flagging group in business.  We tried to stretch the envelope and bring new students, not people necessarily in the Drama track, into our fold.

Nowadays, I no longer do so much musical theater as just plain music with a little theater.  I sing professionally in choruses in Philadelphia and New York, and in fact, I will be performing in a concert version of an opera called Sancta Susanna by Hindemith with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti.  Here are the performance dates and times (all performances are at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center):

Thursday, June 7, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 8, 2007, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 9, 2007, 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 7:30 p.m.

It's not musical theater, that's for sure, but it still will be a night filled with drama.  But you should come see it and support a fellow Torn Ticket II-er!

- Maren Montalbano ('97)