Fine Arts Division Presents Comic Operetta The Merry Widow

The Flora L. Thornton Opera Program will present Franz Léhar's comic operetta The Merry Widow, sung in English, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 26 and 28, at Smothers Theatre on Pepperdine's Malibu campus.

Melanie Emelio directs the Pepperdine student cast, with Tony Cason conducting the Pepperdine University Orchestra.

In Léhar's most popular and enchanting work, wealthy widow Hanna Glawari causes a political crisis when her fellow countrymen realize they must find a Romeo to woo her and keep the nation solvent.

A generous gift from the late Flora L. Thornton has enabled the University to enhance considerably the quality of its opera productions, its summer European opera studies workshops in Heidelberg, and its arts outreach programs. Recent productions include Die Fledermaus, Little Women, The Bartered Bride, The Marriage of Figaro, La boheme, L'elisir d'amore, and Cosi fan tutte.

Tickets, priced at $20 for the public, $10 for Pepperdine students, and $16 for Pepperdine faculty and staff, are available now by calling the Pepperdine Center for the Arts Box Office at (310) 506-4522 or on the Center for the Arts website.