Chris Lingel
I've always been a fan of the theater, and opera is not an exception. Both of these shows were very well preformed, and well written. I found that Suor Angelica dealt particularly with this unit's theme on loss and dying, as we followed Angelica through her mourning over her dead child and eventual suicide so that they might be reunited in the afterlife. Suicide is considered the only sin that is unforgiveable since forgiveness requires sorrow and there simply isn't enough time to become regretful. Gianni Schicchi was something of a comedy. Comic relief, perhaps, from the first show. Still, both were fine stories and they present possible ways of dealing both with death, dying, and dealing with the loss of loved ones.

Rachel Wondra
The Vaplaraiso University Theatre cast and crew did an excellent job of presenting Puccini's operas, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. In the first opera, Suor Angelica, the 16 female vocalists sang beautifully the story of a Sister who chooses to kill herself in a sorrowful rage after she learns of the death of her son. This particular opera was very touching, especially in the final scenes when we learn that God had performed a miracle and allowed Sister Angelica to enter the gates of heaven and be reunited with her son. In the second opera, Gianni Schicchi, a light and comical tone was potrayed by the cast. The main theme of this opera seemed to be how greed can take over and ruin what you already have. The family of the dead Buoso became so greedy and didn't care by what measures they used to get Buoso's fortune, that they ended up losing most of it in the end. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of attending an opera (it was my first time) and the cast and crew did an excellent job!

Chris Emry
I enjoyed the operas, I thought that it would be boring and that I'd have trouble staying awake. I liked the first one a lot better than the second one even though it was kind of predictable what would happen. The second one was "same old story". People don't like what the will gives them so they hatch a plan to change it. If you heard the story once, you've heard it a thousand times.

Aime Meuschke
I liked the opera. The first one made me think and the second one made me laugh. I liked the first one because it really made me think about what is really important to me. Just like how Angelica's child was to her. The second one was one I felt for just entertainment.

To aide you in this, we were able to locate a synopsis of one of the two opera's preformed. We regret that we were unable to locate a similar feature for both performances, and if one ever becomes available, it will be posted as soon as humanly possible.

-In short, Gianni Schicchi tells the story of a family of a recently departed man. The deceased was somewhat wealthy, but the family wasn't quite impressed with what they got for an inheritance. So they employ the crafty Gianni Schicchi to impersonate the dear old dead guy and attempt to re-write the will. This play was the only comedy that Puccini ever wrote, so it'd probably be a good idea to enjoy it. :-) If you want to read up even deeper into the plot behind Puccini's Gianni Schicchi just follow this link.

Actaully, after creating that link, this site's webmaster (Chris Lingel) found a site about Suor Angelica. The site is totally in Italian, unfortunately, but it's the best we can do. Suor Angelica is about a mother who's child has perished. In grief and mourning, Angelica commits suicide so that she might be reunited with her child after death. Unknown to her, however, is that she was destined to hell for her deeds and, well it kinda made things tricky for her to see her son. However, God stepped in, did the Godly thing and let her into Heaven where she and her child were finally reunited.

Now, that's pretty brief, so if you want to take a look at the Italian site, go by way of the following link....

Giacomo Puccini was born in 1858 into a family that had produced four generations of composers. Giacomo would prove to become the fifth, final, and most famous of these composers.

Before Giacomo Puccini came around, most of the composers from his family produced mainly church music, so the next time you're at church singin' a hymn, it just might've been written by Pucinni's dear old daddy.

Our young hero Giacomo, however, decided to break the mold of church songs and instead wrote many operas, including Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. The second of these was the only comedy that Puccini ever wrote.

Giacomo wrote many plays, but died in 1924 from a throat cancer no doubt related to the fact that he was a heavy smoker. At the time of his death, he had almost finished his final opera, Turandot, but the final portion of the final scene was never completed.

Well, that's all for now, folks. If we've managed to spark your interest in the great composer, Giacomo Puccini, feel free to drop any of us a line and we'll point you in the proper direction. Our E-mail links can be found above, but in case you don't feel like scrolling up, they are also right below this message with the page credits. :-)

Webmaster...........Chris Lingel
Staff....................Rachel Wondra
Staff....................Chris Emry
Staff....................Amie Meuschke

Special Thanks to....

-Professor Burow-Flak

-Whatever guardian angel that told Chris to stop working on the webpage and save it 5 minutes before a power outage. If he hadn't done that, the entire page would've been lost, so we thank that particular guardian angel.

-Mountain Dew (for giving Chris the caffiene required to make this page)

-Giacomo Puccini, for without his work, this site would not be possible.

-and of course, we have to thank our beloved classmates from Core 115S, because they had to do something similar to this as well.

No animals were harmed during the creation of this webpage.

Well, I did eat a hamburger when I was writing the code. I suppose that counts.

I banged my finger while typing the code as well, and since humans are technically animals as well, that counts too.

I ate some Skittles, too..and my sister (who is vegan) says that Yellow 5 and Red 40 contain animal parts so I guess some animals were taken care of there too.

The group also ate pepperoni pizza while planning this website. Although it is debateable as to whether or not pepperoni actually consists of meat, I suppose that counts.

Come to think of it, Mountain Dew contains Yellow 5 as well, I guess that has to count, even though without it, this page never would've been completed.

Clap if you think these jokes are really lame.

::The lights turn out::

Ha ha, I installed a clapper while you were out.

What? Are you still here? Fine, I suppose I'll have to entertain you....