Macdonald takes the lead in “Beatrice and Benedict”
Renee Macdonald, portraying Beatrice, rehearses Thursday afternoon in Miller Concert Hall for the opera “Beatrice & Benedict” opening Thursday and running through the weekend. Macdonald is a second year graduate student and, as an opera performance major, is required to take at least one semester of French, Italian and German. “Beatrice & Benedict” is sung in French with spoken dialogue in Shakespeare’s English.
William Shakespeare influenced many over the centuries, including French Composer Hector Berlioz.
Berlioz wrote “Beatrice and Benedict” in 1858, based on Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.”
The Wichita State Opera will perform “Beatrice and Benedict” in honor of Shakespeare’s 400th birthday this week.
The performances are in Miller Concert Hall in the Duerksen Fine Arts Center.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy, it’s very beautiful, but it’s on the difficult side,” Director of Opera Marie King said.
The comic operetta will be sung in French with the dialogue spoken in Shakespeare’s English.
“I think it definitely suits the voices in our program right now,” King said.
Wichita State’s opera program chooses the operas based on the students’ talent. That’s why second-year master’s student Renee Macdonald was chosen for the lead role of Beatrice.
Macdonald earned her undergraduate degree in vocal performance at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Macdonald made her way to WSU to pursue her master’s degree in music.
“WSU has been very kind to me in casting me in lead roles,” Macdonald said.
Singing has always been a strong suit of Macdonald’s that developed after many hours and years of preparing, practicing, and studying.
“When it comes to singing, its not like playing an instrument,” Macdonald said. “As a singer, your instrument gets stronger with practice, so you craft your talent.”
Singing in French comes easy to Macdonald, but to get better, she took diction classes in French and other languages that operas are performed in.
“Renee is always incredibly well prepared,” King said.
Post-master’s degree, Macdonald plans to pursue a music performance career. She wants to audition for opera houses and land roles in some of her favorite operas.
“In a dreamland I would want to perform all the time. The reality means I will probably do a lot of different things,” Macdonald said.
As for playing Beatrice, she is thrilled to be in a comedic play. Throughout her time at WSU, Macdonald’s roles have been serious and dark.
“Beatrice fits me like a glove,” Macdonald said. “I like to think of myself as sassy like her.”
Macdonald’s musical journey at WSU continues to be an adventure of different roles—she just landed the lead role in a Mozart opera in the spring.
Alex Bullock was a reporter for The Sunflower. She was an integrated-marketing major at Wichita State. Bullock grew up in Wichita and has been a Shocker...
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