Centenary’s Hurley School of Music presents “Colors of Love” spring cabaret
SHREVEPORT, LA — Students and faculty at Centenary College’s Hurley School of Music have collaborated this spring to produce “Colors of Love,” a cabaret-style performance bringing together works from operas and musicals as well as the art song, lieder, and chanson repertory. “Colors of Love” will be presented live for a Centenary audience only on Friday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the College’s Anderson Auditorium. For non-Centenary audiences, the performance will be live streamed on the Hurley School of Music Facebook page.
Pieces on the “Colors of Love” program vary greatly in style, period, and movement, and the musical sections are interwoven with original monologues, dialogues, and poetry by student writers from the theatre department. The program is diverse and eclectic, taking the audience on what Dr. Janani Sridhar, visiting assistant professor of music at the Hurley School, calls “an auditory journey” over the course of the evening.
The rehearsal process for the cabaret started in January 2021 with coaching for the musical elements followed by the staging of the pieces. Sridhar is directing the show in close collaboration with students, who have made significant contributions to the creative process.
“The majority of the student writers who wrote scenes for the show also directed their own works,” said Sridhar. “It was a wonderful experience for the performers to work with the writers of their scripts, as well as for the writers to be able to take creative control of their pieces. The backdrop in the show was graffitied by students and a few faculty members. They spray-painted messages that pertain to the themes of the works featured in the show. I think that the audience may have fun seeing them come to life during the performance.”
Producing a live musical event during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presented some challenges, but Sridhar and the student singers adjusted their process to ensure that the show is being produced safely.
“It was a challenge to stage scenes that had more than one singer in them, as I wanted to make sure the students were socially distanced the entire time, for safety reasons,” explained Sridhar. “Even though the duets are staged with the performers far apart, the scenes are engaging, and you forget that the singers are intentionally spaced apart.”
The “Colors of Love” cabaret features student performers representing Centenary’s Hurley School of Music and the Centenary Theatre Program. For more information, visit centenary.edu/colors.