Ethington Theatre

How do you feel about going to the opera? Wait, wait, hold on. Here’s a better question: How do you feel about going to a one-act opera, sung in English, lasting less than an hour, with a simple, sweet story line that even a third-grader could follow? We’re guessing you’re warming up to the idea. It’s tempting to characterize “Amahl and the Night Visitors” as opera for people who don’t like opera, but that would diminish the fine performances and exceptional staging by the College of Fine Arts and Production version, which opened Friday night at Ethington Theatre to a packed house.

Following the immense success of “Dracula” at Halloween, the Ethington Theatre Series will present “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” a feel-good Christmas story that has its own feel-good story involving a member of the cast. For Claire Penneau, who plays Amahl’s mother, the story and her role weren’t hard to relate to. Penneau, who will turn 38 on Saturday, is a full-time student and a working mother of three. She has spent years as a single parent trying to do what’s best for her children.

The GCU College of Fine Arts and Production presents Legacy – a winter dance concert honoring dancers in history. The production was choreographed by Zari Le’on, Susannah Keita, Jessica Rajko, Sonja Mitrovic and Antoinette Proctor. Performances are December 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Ethington Theatre. Tickets are $10. To purchase tickets, call the box office at 602.639.8880 or ethington@gcu.edu.

Amahl and the Night Visitors is a Christmas opera for the whole family. Gian Carlo Menotti weaves an intimate portrait of a poor mother and son on the brink of homelessness. They are visited by three resplendent kings on their way to see the Christ-child. Throughout the evening, the three guests guide the impoverished family from their state of despair to ultimate hope as the kings tell of the birth of the Earth’s true king. What can Amahl and his mother do for a child who promises to save the world? Miracles abound in this beautiful gem of an opera that is sure to touch hearts of all ages.

In today’s tough economic times, it’s hard to stay positive, especially for leaders in the business world. But that is exactly what Dr. Ken Blanchard says is the most important thing for today’s leaders. “You have to be the bearers of hope,” Blanchard told a packed Ethington Theatre at Friday morning’s CEO Lecture Series, put on in partnership with AZ Business Magazine. “That doesn’t mean you have to be deceitful or not tell the truth about what’s going on. But if you aren’t positive, your people won’t be positive.”

There’s no getting around the seasonal nature of certain jobs. Santa Claus in December. A tax accountant in April. And the FangMaster in October. The FangMaster? That would be the self-chosen nickname of Rod Jakubik, who makes custom vampire fangs out of his garage in north Tempe — and outfitted the GCU production of “Dracula” with them. Jakubik, 53, a dental technician, has a day job making removable dental appliances such as dentures, partials and retainers. But in the evening he lets the FangMaster out to play, creating not only realistic Dracula-style teeth but a host of other varieties.

Those who packed the theatre over the weekend expecting a campy stage version of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel experienced something else entirely: an armrest-gripping thriller that’s easily the most serious, ambitious work the GCU theatre program has done since returning last fall from a four-year hiatus. “Dracula,” using American playwright Steven Dietz’s true-to-Stoker script written in 1996, unifies Assistant Dean Bill Symington’s staging, Dean Claude Pensis’ lighting and Nola Yergen’s costuming as never before. Even more remarkable is this: Five of the seven main characters in Friday’s opening-night performance were new to the Ethington stage — including three freshmen. From their polish and poise, you’d never know it.

How could GCU’s College of Fine Arts and Production possibly top the success of last year’s Ethington Theatre Series? Sophomore Nathan de Laet was wondering the same thing over the summer as he reported for rehearsals of “You Can’t Take It With You,” the comedy that opened this year’s series in early September. Dean Claude Pensis supplied the answer early on. “Last year was fun,” Pensis told the student cast, “but this year will be a step up.”

Insisting that “there’s never a good time or a bad time to be in the arts,” Phoenix Symphony music director Michael Christie gave an insightful talk Tuesday night at Ethington Theatre, sharing career tips with the student audience. Christie, only 37, is already in his eighth season as the symphony’s maestro. A former trumpet player from Buffalo, N.Y., he went to school at Oberlin (Ohio) College and his career took off from there. When he won a conducting competition in Finland as a college junior, his path became clear.

For GCU sophomore Elizabeth Pabst, the theatre has always called to her. “Ever since I was little, I’ve loved it,” she says. “I used to gather all my friends and we’d put on plays from an early age. Even now, I get my nieces and nephews together for performances.” Her true venture onto the stage, though, came in high school. She always had played sports but didn’t have the time to do both. So she hung up her soccer cleats and threw herself wholeheartedly into theatre, and she hasn’t looked back.