The UD Opera Workshop will perform a free concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 21 in Sears Recital Hall.

All 10 of the Workshop's members will perform. Each member will appear in two to three scenes in addition to the whole ensemble's performances.

One of these members is senior Maura Hanlon, who is in her first semester with the Workshop.

The performance will appeal to members of the UD community because it is unique and humorous, according to Hanlon. Most of the scenes are from American musicals or operas, so audience members should easily relate to the material, she said.

"It's not a confusing foreign opera that you need translations for," Hanlon said. "We pick music that is accessible and understandable to the audience."

Audience members will see Hanlon performing Maria from "The Sound of Music" as part of a quartet and Master of the House from "Les Miserables" as part of a duet.

This will be the first performance from the Opera Workshop that does not have a centralized theme.

The concert will include scenes from a variety of operas and musicals including Leonard Bernstein's "On the Town" and "Trouble in Tahiti." Other scenes will be based off such works as "The Magic Flute," "The Sound of Music" and "Fiddler on the Roof."

Dr. Minnita Daniel-Cox, co-director of the performance along with Dr. Linda Snyder, is in her first semester with the Opera Workshop. Daniel-Cox said she has incorporated more contemporary material, mostly from American theater, during her time with the Workshop.

Daniel-Cox said she is frustrated that opera has been given a stigma of being stuffy and only for the upper class in America. She said opera is an art form that touches on everyday human emotions.

"There's this idea that music on the stage is not us; it's not what we're about, but it's absolutely just a reflection of what's going on in our everyday lives and the things we feel," she said.

According to Daniel-Cox, lyrical theater and opera provides the same form of entertainment that people seek today, like TV or the Internet. It is just from a different medium.

"There is nothing new under the sun," she said. "You look at music videos today, and they're not so different from what was thrilling and exciting on the stage 200 or 300 years ago."

Daniel-Cox said she strongly encourages the UD community to come to the performance Wednesday and support the Workshop's hard work.

"The kids work hard; it's a good show," she said. "I think it's something the community will enjoy, and we had a great time putting it together."