'La Rondine' takes the stage at McLeod Theater the next two weekends

Haekyung An wasn't eager to divulge what her character in "La Rondine," Magda, did for a living, but her fellow cast members were willing to offer up some suggestions.

"Exclusive call girl," "courtesan" and "demimondaine" came to mind. And her director was, well, direct about it.

"Magda's a whore," said Tim Fink, director of the show and an associate professor in the School of Music.

Despite her less than pristine lifestyle, Magda, the lead character in "La Rondine," evokes the sympathy of the audience throughout the show because of her lovelorn existence.

"La Rondine," written by Giacomo Puccini in 1917, is a tragic story of love and painful decisions. It will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21, 22, 28 and March 1 and at 2 p.m. March 2 at McLeod Theater. Tickets are $6 for SIU students and children 15 and younger, $11 for adults and $9 for seniors.

Although not as well known as his "La Boheme," "Tosca" or "Madame Butterfly," Puccini's eighth opera excels as a story that is very true to life.

"It's not as dramatic as the other Puccini operas; there's no one on stage stabbing or killing one another," Fink said. "But this is a story about love and experience and it really happens."

"La Rondine" means sparrow, and Fink explained why Puccini chose this title.

"Sparrows are known for returning to the same place to nest. Magda will fly away for love but will return to the place she feels she belongs," he said.

The story begins in Paris, where Magda is supported by the rich Rambaldo, played by Marcus Howard. She is kept well but lives a life devoid of love. She remembers an earlier time when she met a boy and secretly wishes for that kind of life.

Magda decides to dress in disguise and go out to a bar, where she meets Ruggero, played by Josh Shaw, and falls in love with him. Rambaldo finds her there and tries to persuade her to come back, but she follows Ruggero. When we next see Magda and Ruggero, they are living in a seaside bungalow on the South of France, penniless but happy.

Ruggero suggests they get married and tells Magda he's written to his mother. His mother's reply says she can't wait to meet the girl and hopes she is a pure and chaste woman to bear her son's children. It is then that Magda reveals her past to Ruggero, and she must make the decision whether to stay with him or return to Rambaldo.

The production involves a 50-piece orchestra, a cast of 30 and about 20 crew members. They have been preparing for the show since the beginning of the semester, practicing every night from 7 to 10 p.m. and sometimes more.

Some of the cast members, all graduate students in opera music and theater, agreed that being in the show has been difficult for varying reasons.

"It's challenging for me to sing a Puccini opera," An said. "It's a huge role for me; it's a huge opera. But it's really exciting."

Shaw agreed that this has been one of his biggest roles. "I'm glad to do this show because it's not done a whole lot, and we're doing it in Italian," he said. "We rarely do shows in other languages."

None of the cast knew Italian previously, but they learned to read and sing it for the show. The show will have supertitles, or translations projected on a screen, for the benefit of audience members not fluent in Italian.

Howard said that his biggest challenge was stretching out of his natural persona into the character of Rambaldo.

"I'm a really laid-back kind of guy. This character is a rigid, stuck-up businessman. There was one scene where I have to explode in anger, and we had to do it so many times before I was even close," he said. "It was pretty funny, actually."

Though "La Rondine" is tragic, there is comedy in it. Melanie Erazmus plays Lizette, Magda's maid, and Richard Gammon plays Prunier, Magda's friend. Their characters provide comic relief and "balance out the tragedy in Magda's life," according to Erazmus.

"La Rondine" is a classic tale of love and sorrow not to be missed. The opportunity to see a high-quality opera production for such a low price is rare.

"Students should come because it's cheap and not taxing to the mind. And it's also romantic," said Howard.

"La Rondine" will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21, 22, 28 and March 1 and at 2 p.m. March 2 at McLeod Theater. Tickets are $6 for SIU students and children 15 and younger, $11 for adults and $9 for seniors.