"Ugh the Duck" Performed on Campus Again for Area Youth, Public
May 14, 2013
"Ugh the Duck," a retelling of the classic tale, "The Ugly Duckling," returns to UC Merced this month.
The show will be performed for schoolchildren and the general public on campus as part of an effort to share opera and theater with Merced County youth.
Thousands of area children will attend twice-daily performances between May 20 and May 24, and these performances are offered to schools free of cost. A public performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 24. All performances will be held in the Lakireddy Auditorium. Suggested donations for the public performance are $5 for adults and $3 for children.
The project is sponsored by the Merced County Office of Education, Arts UC Merced Presents, Building Healthy Communities-Merced and private donations.
Professor Katherine Steele Brokaw is directing the show and coproducing it with music theater lecturer and professional opera singer Jenni Samuelson and Arts UC Merced Producing Manager Gail Benedict.
This is the second consecutive year that “Ugh the Duck” has brought local school children to campus to expose them to fine arts. UC Merced and MCOE presented “Little Red Riding” in 2009 and 2010.
"We hope that the show's message — that every child can someday spread their wings but still have a place to call home — resonates with the children of Merced and inspires them perhaps to consider someday becoming a student at UC Merced or another college," Brokaw said.
The opera was written by Nancy Steele Brokaw, and the music is by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Arthur Sullivan. The music director is Patrice Stribling Nelson. The play stars professional opera singers Samuelson and Aimee Puentes, along with UC Merced students Justin Choi, Sologne Patterson and James McIntyre.
