By Dr. Allen Molineux

     On Tuesday, April 17 at 7:30 pm The Lyric Theater class at Claflin University will be performing the one act opera The Telephone or L’amour a trois by Giancarlo Menotti. It will take place in the W.V. Middleton Auditorium on the Claflin University campus.

     This comedy about a young woman who can’t seem to stay off the phone and her boyfriend who can’t seem to find a way to pop the question was written in 1947, but is just as fresh today. This production stars Claflin music majors soprano Joy Creech as Lucy and baritone Curtis Coles as Ben in an up to date scenario with cell phones. Accompaniment will be provided by Orangeburg pianist Amanda Montgomery. Claflin Instructor Lisa Foerster is directing.

     The Italian-born American composer Menotti wrote the libretto for this as well as his other operas. He is perhaps best known for his Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors which was written for television. Menotti won the Pulitzer Prize and founded the Spoleto Festivals in Europe and Charleston, South Carolina. He died on February 1 of this year at age 95.