Meet the waitress in The Gondoliers: Alex Wiese

Operas are renowned for the talented performers that animate stages all over the world with the power of voice. Their remarkable singing fills theaters with fantastic tunes that leave listeners wondering how humans are even capable of producing the sounds. Singers are essential to any opera, but there are other performers who are just as important. It may seem atypical for someone onstage to not sing in a musical production, but it is a common--and necessary--role that is frequently played. In our production of The Gondoliers, one of our very own cast members takes on a silent part: Alexandra Weise. She is making her debut in as the Waitress and has shared a little bit about herself and her experience this summer.

Alexandra is approaching her final semester at the University of Houston and earning her degree in German. On top of being a busy student, she keeps up with a part-time job at Barnes & Noble. In her spare time, she turns to her passion of music. For years, she’s been vocally trained, and she has always had a love for performing on stage. Upon scrolling through Facebook one fateful day, she stumbled across the HG&S page which immediately sparked her interest in performing in a Gilbert & Sullivan opera. She gave the auditions for The Gondoliers a shot and landed her role as the Waitress.

Despite not singing in this production, rehearsals for Alex are just as challenging. There are dances, movements, and physical details she must get just right, noting that “it’s more difficult than any opera role I’ve had before.” She explains that the challenge stems from the pressure she puts on herself to execute the role perfectly. Interestingly, her role was specifically designed for this production by director Alistair Donkin, and was not in the original Gilbert & Sullivan script, so in addition to practicing all the steps, she’s discovering how to make her character her own. Even though she won’t be showing off her vocal capabilities this time around, she knows her role is important because our production is a visual experience just as much as an audible one. Although rehearsals can be “nerve-wracking,” she appreciates how it’s “fun, different, and challenging” and has been enjoying every moment with the group.

In fact, Alexandra’s favorite part about being with our Society is meeting other members of the cast. She expresses how everyone is truly “fun, interesting, and welcoming” and couldn’t think of a better group of people to be performing with. “All of the cast members come from diverse theatre backgrounds, and it’s great to learn about other people and hear about their stories and experiences,” she says.

Performers like Alex help tell an opera’s story because audiences not only want to hear a message; they want to see it. There are countless of different roles to fill in an opera,. When they come together, they strike a perfect balance resulting in a beautiful final production, and that’s just what we’re going to achieve with The Gondoliers. We hope to see you there! Tickets are on sale now for our four performances, July 21-23.