Only in a Broadway Musical would a widow be portrayed as merry, but put an operatic twist to a classic tale of romantic comedy and you get the sensation of the University’s Opera Ensemble.

Under the direction of Frederick Burchinal, the ensemble will be performing an opera in only the loosest of terms. 

“Although it is called an opera, it is basically what we are calling today ‘crossover music,’” Burchinal said. “It also has quite a bit of dialogue and quite a bit of dancing … The singing has to be sung [with] a legitimate style so it’s considered an opera, but it has all the elements of what became Broadway musicals.”

Even the dialogue, written by Sheldon Harnick — most famous for “Fiddler on the Roof” — corresponds with the modern twist. 

“The singing and music is very well-known music, so even if you don’t know the whole piece, I know that the audience is going to recognize a lot of the hit tunes,” Burchinal said.

Graduate student Kellie McHugh, who plays the character Valencienne, agreed and said the show is for people who don’t go to the opera, in order to get their feet wet.

Sung in English throughout, the opera focuses on two love stories in a fictitious country on the verge of bankruptcy. 

In one, Count Danilo Danilovitsch contemplates making a move on his friend, who happens to be the newly-widowed Hannah Glawari.

“The reason she’s called the Merry Widow is because she married a very rich man in her country and a week later he died and left her all of his fortunes,” Burchinal said, noting she is the only person who can save the nation from bankruptcy if she remarries a man who could inherit her money.

“I don’t really want to marry her because I don’t want it to look like I’m marrying her for money; I want it to look like I’m in love with her,” Asher Payne, a graduate student from Carnsville, said of his character Danilo. “My character is also kind of an ass because I’m stubborn and all I do is hang out with whores.”

The subplot of the story features a love triangle among Camille, a French diplomat; Baron Zeta, a French ambassador; and his beautiful wife Valencienne.

Essentially these complicated romance issues get resolved in an extensively elaborate comedy of errors. Audience members can expect a great deal of classic dramatic irony and use of props. One of the most memorable amusingly trivial props that becomes so crucial in tying the stories together is Camille’s fan.

“Camille writes on my fan ‘I love you’ and then loses the fan. I become worried my husband will find it and discover [my affair],” McHugh said. “When I finally rediscover the fan, I flip it over and write on the back ‘to my husband from his faithful wife’ to protect myself.”

The humorous scenarios and portrayal of unrequited love are achieved through more than just singing, however.

“An opera singer today must be as much an actor as he is a singer,” Burchinal said. “We have entered an age now when the fat lady with the horns and the spears is gone. You joke that the opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings. Well, she stopped singing.”

What: UGA Opera Ensemble presents Lehar’s “The Merry Widow”

When: 8 p.m.

Where: BlueSky

Price: Free