Loyola University Presents Annual Opera Theatre Production, Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah”

The Loyola Opera Theatre is pleased to present Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah," the story of an innocent young woman from a humble background who is targeted as a sinner in a small Tennessee mountain village, on Jan. 23 and 25 in the Louis J. Roussel Performance Hall, on the Loyola campus.

One of the most performed and beloved American operas, "Susannah" opens at a church square dance where a group of wives, jealous of Susannah's beauty and the attention its brings from their husbands, are gossiping about her.

When a group of church elders later discovers Susannah bathing in a secluded creek near her home, the elders paint her as a sinning seductress and the village turns against her.

Carol Rausch, who leads Loyola's Opera Workshop, said she chose "Susannah" for this year's annual opera production both because the opera has strong roots in New Orleans and it is the 100^th anniversary of Floyd's birth.

Norman Treigle, an internationally renowned opera singer who played Reverend Olin Blitch in the New York City premiere of "Susannah" in 1956, was born in New Orleans and studied vocal performance at Loyola. In addition, Christopher Ray, the executive director of the Carlisle Floyd Centennial, lives in New Orleans.

"Floyd was an American composer and pioneer who wrote 'Susannah' as a member of the Florida State University faculty," Rausch said. "The opera premiered in 1955 and became one of the most important American operas of all time. We are thrilled to bring 'Susannah' back to Loyola as part of Floyd's centennial celebration."

The opera is loosely based on the story of "Susanna and the Elders" in the Book of Daniel. It also served as a powerful allegory for the paranoia and false accusations of the McCarthy Era, characterized by "witch hunts" and unfounded accusations targeting alleged communists in government, Hollywood and universities.

A panel discussion, along with a Q&A session, will take place one hour before curtain at each performance, and will include Ray, of the Carlisle Floyd Centennial; Phyllis Treigle, chair of Vocal Music at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) who is Norman Treigle's daughter, as well as a Loyola graduate; Brian Morgan, Treigle's biographer; Rausch; and, Irini Kyriakidou-Hymel, the Loyola production's director.