Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s ‘26’

Opera singers train on astandard set of 26 arias composed for 26 separate Italian operas in all thestyles that have arisen since the form was invented in the Renaissance.Milwaukee Opera Theatre, with a new vision and energy, will present an originalwork by a trio of Milwaukeeartists who have placed the songs into a single conceptual framework, in effectusing them as the score for the postmodern music-dance-theater fantasy titled 26.

Jill Anna Ponasik(singer-actor), Nathan Wesselowski (composer-singer) and Kelly Anderson(choreographer-dancer) spent a full year deconstructing and reconstructing this“Great Italian Songbook” into a tangled tale of love and despair for thecharacters they play in the show. Wesselowski refashioned some solo arias intoduets and group pieces, and composed bridge music.

Anderson will dance and also sing a bit;singers Ponasik and Wesselowski will also dance; and their brilliantaccompanist Jack Forbes Wilson will add his good voice to the mix. The songswill be sung in Italian, but salient phrases will be projected in English inthe manner of silent film titles to advance the plot.

Ponasik is the company’snew, young artistic director. After nearly closing from exhaustion last year,this nomadic “people’s opera” has had a vibrant season under her leadership.She hosts free monthly Voice Labs in her home, where anyone can experiment inmusic performance and get feedback over wine and food from the group inattendance. She hopes it willinspire new work. She’scommissioned a “superhero operetta” about a woman who can slow time fromcomposer-writer Jason Powell for next Halloween. It all deserves support.

26will have its premiere at Danceworks Studio Theatre (1661 N. Water St.) at 7:30 p.m. May14-16, with an additional 3 p.m. matinee on May 16.