Play It Again

Here is another addition to the long and frequently dismal list of Dartmouth acronyms, but this one we like: HOPOPCO-OP. We like it not so much for the percussive bounce of its sound, but for what it means. It stands for the Hopkins Center Opera Cooperative, an inter-department, College-community, amateur-professional amalgamation of persistence, faith, and talent which late in May staged Dartmouth's first full-fledged opera, Otto Nicolai's The Merry Wives ofWindsor.

Peter Smith, director of the Hopkins Center and director pro tem of the opera venture, described an operatic production as a particularly "complicated and expensive undertaking." The complicated part had to do with coordinating efforts and schedules of the drama and music departments, engaging the outside professional help of a conductor, stage director, choreographer, and three lead male singers, and enlisting the talents of students, faculty, and friends of opera in the community. The considerable expenses were borne by the faithful Friends of Hopkins Center, a gift from the Class of 1935, the Filene Foundation, and a bevy of individual benefactors.

The pudding, over a year in the making, was proved by two sold-out performances each of which received unanimously appreciative reviews. Except for the three imported professional singers, Dartmouth students sang the leads and soprano Sally Critchlow '79, as Mistress Ford, was singled out for particular praise when more than one critic suggested she abandon her physics major for more lyric pursuits.

An eight-year-old friend of ours, typecast as an elf, confided that he likes opera and would very much enjoy performing in another. Critical acclaim like that demands an encore.