Lea Woods Friedman, a star of Hawai'i Opera Theater's The Magic Flute is joined by Cornellians following the exciting performance.

 

Cornell Night at the Opera: The Magic Flute

A group of Cornellians attended the Hawaii Opera Theater's (H.O.T.) presentation of The Magic Flute on Thursday, February 18, 2003 at 7:30pm at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, which included Cornell Alumni as Lea Friedman ("97) performing in the opera. The opera was filled with cinematic special effects, excellent performances by Ms. Friedman and cast, and fun Hawaiian twists incorpated into the sets, props and dialogue!

The event was precluded by a presentation by Cornell Alumni and H.O.T. Board Members Evelyn Lance and Mike Marks who gave a "behind the scenes" briefing at La Guignol restaurant, which included a very eloquent synopsis of the opera at Le Guignol's restaurant. Excellent pupus were served at the briefing

After the performance Mike Marks gave the Club a backstage tour of the Blaisdell Concert Hall, an explanation of how the opera's production was put together (bringing together actors, sets and costumes from throughout the mainland and Hawaii), and introduced key members of the production, including Henry G. Akina, Matthew Lata and of course Lea Woods Friedman.

A brief biography on a star of the event, Lea Friedman '97, and a summary of the opera are included below. Lea Friedman adds to the long and great tradition of Cornellians in the theater!!

Lea Woods Friedman and The Magic Flute

About the Star

Lyric soprano Lea Woods Friedman, was born and raised here in Honolulu. After graduating from Cornell's School of Hotel Administration in 1997 she flew off to Italy to pursue her first passion; Singing. She studied in Italy for three years, attending language and opera programs and studying privately with many Italian Maestri from Florence to the hilltop village of Osimo. She made her debut with Hawaii Opera Theater as Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro in 2001 and is happy to once again return home to sing the role of Papagena in their productions of The Magic Flute this month. She has also sung as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No.9 with the Honolulu Symphony. Ms. Friedman has given solo recitals and concert performances in Hawaii, Singapore, Koala Lumpur, and at Accademia d'Arte Lirica in Italy. This past summer marked her debut with Chautauqua Opera Theater where she performed songs by Rodgers & Hart, and a recital of Duparc, Argento, and Hawaiian Songs and she will return this June as Zerlina in their 2003 Don Giovanni productions. Upcoming engagement: Broadway Divas with the Indianapolis and Detroit Symphonies this Spring, and Valencienne in The Merry Widow with Hawaii Opera Theater 2004.

Lea Woods Friedman looking smashing in her costume for her role as Papagena in The Magic Flute.

 

About the Opera

From the inventive genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Magic Flute has been a popular favorite with audiences of all ages for more than 200 years. Against a fantastic setting, under the exciting Directorship of Matthew Lata, the opera explores eternal themes such as the triumph of good over evil and love over hate. Done predominantly in German, with the supertitles above the stage to help translate for those not fluent in the language, this production of The Magic Flute is full of quirky uses of our own isle culture and language and a guaranteed good time for all in attendance!!!

 

Cornell Club of Hawai'i's members enjoyed attending the performance and of course, meeting Ms. Friedman!

The Event Flyer is included for your reference.