The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Opera Theatre presents Gian-Carlo Menotti’s The Old Maid & the Thief and The Telephone under the direction of George Hogan, Director of UMHB Opera Activities.

All performances will be presented at the Azalee Marshall Cultural Activities Center in Temple. Performances will be on Friday, February 29 and Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Cultural Activities Center box office or by calling the box office at 254.773.9926. A pre-opera chat will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Cultural Activities Center’s Wendland Hall prior to each performance.

The cast includes: Justine Landsberg (Little Red Riding Hood) Kathleen Shelton (Mother and Grandmother) and Robert Knoke (Wolf and Woodsman). Production team includes Nelda Milligan (Music Director/Accompanist) Penny Hogan (Assistant Director of Opera Activities) and members of the UMHB Opera Workshop.

The Old Maid and the Thief was originally conceived as a Radio-Opera. Composed into fourteen scenes, and lasting only 60 minutes it made its World Premiere broadcast via NBC Radio on April 22, 1939. The UMHB Opera will incorporate the original radio broadcast element into their fully staged production.

The story is about Miss Todd, a middle-aged spinster, who lives by herself with her young maid, Laetitia. Miss Pinkerton, the town gossip, comes to call and stays for tea. While they are discussing their loneliness, Laetitia runs in to announce that a beggar has appeared at the door. At first, Miss Todd instructs Laetitia to send him away but then relents and they invite him in after getting rid of Miss Pinkerton. They learn that his name is Bob and agree that he is quite handsome. Laetitia persuades Miss Todd to allow him to stay overnight. The next day Miss Pinkerton tells Miss Todd that a dangerous criminal has escaped from the town prison. His description accurately fits Bob, but Miss Todd has become infatuated with him and decides to take her chances and protect him from the police. Laetitia has also fallen in love with him. In a desperate move to find additional money to support the extra person in the house, the two women rob the town liquor store. Later, when Bob refuses to return her affection, Miss Todd threatens to turn him in to the police. He convinces her that he is not the wanted criminal, but she is so angry and determined to get him out of her house that she goes in person to the police station to have him arrested for larceny, robbery, and rape. After she is gone, Laetitia persuades Bob that the only way he can be safe is by running away with her immediately. Together, they strip Miss Todd’s house of everything of value and drive off in her car. The cast includes: Kathleen Shelton as Miss Todd, Justine Landsberg as Laetitia, Julie Atwood as Miss Pinkerton and Robert Knoke as Bob.

The Telephone is a brief 22-minute comedy involving two characters, Lucy and Ben. Ben has just presented Lucy with a gift. He explains that he has something very important to ask her and that he must leave soon to catch a train. He is about to propose to her when the telephone rings. Lucy answers, and while the anxious Ben waits, gossips with a friend. She hangs up, but just as Ben begins to speak, the telephone rings again. These interruptions occur several times frustrating Ben and putting him in jeopardy of missing his train. He decides that there is but one thing left to do. He leaves Lucy’s apartment with the intention of calling her from a pay phone at the train station. Ending her telephone conversation, she is surprised to find him gone. The telephone rings, Lucy answers, and Ben proposes. She quickly accepts and reminds him not to forget one important thing while he is away – her telephone number. The cast includes: Kelly Criswell as Lucy and Robert Knoke as Ben.