Opera fans will have the opportunity to enjoy Robert WardsRoman Fever,to be performed by West Virginia Universitys Opera Theatre April 17-19.

The opera will take place in the Antoinette Falbo Theatre at the Creative Arts Center on WVU s Evansdale Campus during an event called Opera Scenes. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday (April 17-18). There will also be a matinee at 3:15 p.m. Saturday (April 19).

Directed by Robert Thieme, head of WVU s opera program,Roman Feveris based on a short story by Edith Wharton, as well as selections from Wolfgang Amadeus MozartsThe Marriage of FigaroandCosfan tutteand Gaetano DonizettisLElisir damore.

Roman Feveris a one-act opera that premiered in 2004 about the chance meeting of two women and their daughters in Rome. The women are friends who first met 22 years earlier, but gradually lost touch with one another. Both recently widowed, they meet again while bringing their daughters to visit Rome for the first time. As they reminisce about their experiences with the fatalRoman Fever,they discover comic and tragic revelations about their lives that are universal to us all.

The part of Alida Shade is performed by Sarah Lynch, a WVU music student studying for a masters degree in voice. The remaining roles are performed by WVU music undergraduates, including Dana Dalesio as Grace Ansley; Sarah Grisso as Barbara Ansley; Dorothy Smith as Jenny Slade; and Justin Barclay as the waiter, Eduardo.

For tickets and information, contact the WVU Box Office at 304-293-SHOW.