G Tune: A Little Lighter Music

When Christian Elser moved to Greenville two years ago from Kansas City to become a voice teacher at Presbyterian College, he found a wealth of culture—ballets, orchestras, a variety of theaters, and abundant visual artists. But he felt he could offer Greenville a creative outlet it was missing: an opera company. Not a group that stages productions featuring an immense cast, foreign languages, and a hefty ticket price, but something a bit different.

So along with then-fiancée Jenna Tamisiea, a theater educator and fellow vocalist, Elser formed the Greenville Light Opera Works, a new professional, classical vocal-music company—now the only such company in the Carolinas. Elser, himself an opera singer, admits that operas have the reputation of suffering from a drawn-out downer of a plot and requiring background knowledge.

Light opera or operetta is the forerunner of American musical theater, and it offers a typically shorter show (compared to classical opera) that is suited to a small cast. The genre lives up to its airy name with a happy ending, upbeat dialogue, and a comedic bent. “It’s not only art, but entertaining,” says Elser.

Unsure about exactly how a resident, professional light-opera group would be received, Elser says the local response was impressive. “We are thrilled at the amount of community support we have found,” he says.

This spring, Greenville Light Opera Works presented a sold-out performance of Beethoven’s comedic Impresario at the Warehouse Theatre. The troupe also took the show up the mountain to the Pumpkintown Opry, just north of Pickens, with a tribute to American musical theater.

The troupe’s Main Stage production this winter, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury, will open with a revue of the duo’s hits and be set in a modern-day South Carolina courtroom. Elser attests to its mass appeal: “Anyone who has never been to an opera can see Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury and laugh hysterically. It’s also filled with tunes you’ll walk out humming.”

Elser says he believes in the transformative quality of this art form that takes the viewer to another place for a short time. “Live theater is a much more personal experience than film or television. The performers are right there,” he says. So put down the remote and get to the opera.

Music for the Masses
Trial by Jury
by Greenville Light Opera Works
November 12-14, 19, & 20
Centre Stage, 501 River St.
$13-$20. (864) 593-2000,
greenvilleopera.org