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CORVALLIS - Opera Theater Corvallis and the Oregon State University Department of Music will present "A Night of American Culture" - two evenings of comedy, drama and dance - on Friday and Saturday, April 12-13, at the Majestic Theatre. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

The evening includes two one-act American operas directed by David Howell: "La Pizza con Funghi" ("Mushroom Pie") by Seymour Barab, a comical satire of Italian opera; and Henry Mollicone's drama, "The Face on the Barroom Floor," one of the most frequently performed short operas in America. OTC veterans Amy Hansen, soprano, and David Gustafson, tenor, will be joined by Richard Lippold, baritone, and Gale Hazel, mezzo-soprano.

Pianists are OSU faculty members Angela Carlson, Brian Conatser and Rebecca Jeffers.

The Willamette Apprentice Ballet will perform "Ports of Call," an original ballet directed and choreographed by Catherine Levi. The piece will be danced to "Souvenirs," a dance suite by American composer Samuel Barber.

"La Pizza con Funghi" is an opera written in "American English" for American audiences by a living composer, Howell said. "In addition to being very funny, the music is accessible for everyone."

In this slapstick satire, Voluptua is in love with Scorpio. In order to be free to marry him, she plans to poison her husband, Count Formaggio. Her maid, Phobia, warns the count of his wife's duplicity. For this show of loyalty, she must lose her life. Eventually, of course, so must all the other members of the cast.

Mollicone's drama, "The Face on the Barroom Floor," is a commissioned work first performed at the Central City (Colorado) Opera Festival and has become one of the most frequently performed short operas in America. Three characters meet in a western bar, where the face of a beautiful woman painted on the floor captures their imagination. They travel back in time a hundred years, reliving the tragic events that inspired the painting.

Howell, a veteran director, singer, and performer, directed OTC's 2001 production of "Don Pasquale" and directs OSU's Opera Workshop.

Hansen, a Corvallis High School graduate and OTC veteran, lives and studies in New York. She garnered high praise for her portrayal of Despina in Portland Opera's production of Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" this February. Other recent performances have been with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Taiwan's National Theater, and the North Carolina, New Israeli and Oregon Symphonies.

Hazel of Corvallis has appeared as an oratorio soloist, as well as a lead in numerous local musical theater and OTC opera productions. She has been a featured soloist with the Corvallis-OSU Symphony, the OSU Symphonic Band, the Arrieu Wind Quintet, and the Black Swan Jazz Band. While on tour with the Corvallis First Presbyterian Chancel Choir in 1991, she sang the mezzo-soprano solos in Mozart's "Grand Mass in C Minor" with the Moscow State Philharmonic.

Gustafson, who sang opposite Hansen in OTC's "Don Pasquale" and "Gianni Schicchi," is another Oregon native who has performed opera and oratorio extensively on the West Coast and internationally. Recent performances have been with the Eugene Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Knoxville Opera, as well as in London, Shanghai, and Denmark.

Lippold, making his first OTC appearance, studies in New York and recently made his Carnegie Hall debut in "Carmina Burana." He has performed throughout the United States and around the world. Prior to moving to New York, Lippold sang roles with Utah Opera, Opera Idaho, Eugene Opera, Rogue Valley Opera and Portland Opera.

Tickets for "A Night of American Culture" are available through ValleyTix at the Majestic Theatre Box Office, (Monday - Friday, noon to 6 p.m.) or by phone at 541-758-9393. Admission is $20.

For more information, call 541-758-2478.