If Carl Orff were still living, he would probably be a gazillionaire based on the licensing fees for O Fortuna!. The opening number from Carmina Burana, Orff's 1936 setting of medieval texts by the same name, is one of 25 short pieces that make up the cantata that deals with fate and the unpredictability of the human condition.
Often, productions of Carmina Burana are presented in concert form. But the version opening Friday at Skylight Music Theater is decidedly more animated, as you might expect from a collaboration between Skylight, Milwaukee Opera Theater, Danceworks Performance Company, and Chant Claire Chamber Choir. More than 60 performers, dancers, singers, and musicians present a fully realized production of Orff's masterwork.
Stage director Jill Anna Ponasik of Milwaukee Opera Theater and Skylight Music Theater; music director and UWM opera faculty member Janna Ernst, choreographer Dani Kuepper from Danceworks, and conductor Ben Bedroske from Chant Claire joined us in the studio recently to talk about the show and their collaboration.
