Test Tube

Characters

KEVIN Baritone – Thirtyish, impatient, unsentimental, but knows how to put on a good front.

FELICE Soprano – Mid-twenties to mid-thirties. No doubt she started the business because she was a “romantic at heart”, but has since learned discouraging facts about human nature.

DARLENE Soprano – Early twenties, classically insecure, very sweet and charming, but needs to find herself – quick.

JENNIFER Soprano – Early to mid-twenties. She wants to be sure you know that she doesn’t put on airs. She’s probably dated all she wants of sports nuts and New Republicans.

BECKY Soprano – Late twenties to mid-thirties. She doesn’t expect to find a “perfect man” who fulfills all her needs. She is therefore easy to please but impossible to dominate.

Piano only or orchestration: Flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, percussion, piano, strings

On the videotaped portions the accompaniment can be acoustic piano or a variety of keyboard sounds at the conductor’s discretion

Time: early 1990’s, before the advent of online dating websites. Kevin shops for a date at Felice’s video dating service, then imagines what the dates would really be like. Parts of the opera are pre-recorded on video, which first alternates, then coordinates, with live action. Darlene, Jennifer, and Becky first appear in their test videos, then “come to life “ to interact with Kevin onstage.

Length: 42 minutes

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After Kevin rejects the first video (Darlene) Felice offers Jennifer, but Kevin is hard to please – or maybe he has too much imagination.

Performed by the Samford Operaworks

Excerpt – Test Tube

Characters

KEVIN Baritone – Thirtyish, impatient, unsentimental, but knows how to put on a good front.

FELICE Soprano – Mid-twenties to mid-thirties. No doubt she started the business because she was a “romantic at heart”, but has since learned discouraging facts about human nature.

DARLENE Soprano – Early twenties, classically insecure, very sweet and charming, but needs to find herself – quick.

JENNIFER Soprano – Early to mid-twenties. She wants to be sure you know that she doesn’t put on airs. She’s probably dated all she wants of sports nuts and New Republicans.

BECKY Soprano – Late twenties to mid-thirties. She doesn’t expect to find a “perfect man” who fulfills all her needs. She is therefore easy to please but impossible to dominate.

Piano only or orchestration: Flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, percussion, piano, strings

On the videotaped portions the accompaniment can be acoustic piano or a variety of keyboard sounds at the conductor’s discretion

Bluebeard is languishing (offstage) in the ICU ward of a modern hospital. His next of kin has been notified, and so five of his wives show up, straight out of an earlier era, with costumes, attitudes, and life histories to match. He awakens just long enough to ask for his wife. Which one does he mean? The answer surprises everyone, including the nursing staff.

Length: 50 minutes

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All five wives have gathered, and all have been asked to sign a consent form so that Bluebeard can have an operation. They find it hard to agree about anything regarding Bluebeard, when each of them sees him so differently.

Performed by the Georgia State University Opera Workshop

Excerpt – Bluebeard’s Waiting Room