I went to the Lakewood Theater Saturday night, for the new production of Sigmund Romberg’s operetta, The Student Prince, as produced by Ann Petty’s Metroplex Opera Company. I enjoyed the evening.

First of all, I was amazed at how stage worthy the operetta is.  I am not sure how much they cleaned up the text, or if they made any changes at all, but the story was believable in its context, and the music was definitely nice to listen to. There were lots of funny lines and standard operetta clichés that really worked. And of course, the famous songs.

The biggest surprise of the evening was the orchestra. Not a squeaky violin or scratchy string player in earshot. This orchestra was good and filled the old movie theater with a rich sound. They played crisply and cleanly, and very much in the style of the music. I understand they were instrumentalists from Meadows School of Music. Afterwards, I complemented the conductor, Jeffrey Sprecht, who is working on a Master's Degree in conducting at SMU. I guess he hired his friends. If so, they all did a great job!

Will Whitmire did a good job as Franz. He is a singer who is still trying to find his way, and, although he has some clarion high notes, this is not really his fach. But he managed to pull it off and was touching when he needed to be.

Laurie Spohn was fine as Kathy. Her delivery was sometimes a bit insecure. But she is a pretty woman and a good musician, and especially shined in the ensembles.

Other standouts in the cast were Shane Hurst as Detlef and Brian Combs as Lutz, who had a lot of funny lines in the comic relief role. Even Curtis Thompson in the small roles of Ruder and the First Lacky was highly amusing. I had not seen Combs before, but he is a natural actor. I have known Shane Hurst for several years, on a casual basis. He is one of Sheila Harms’ former students and a reliable singer who is active in a lot of local theater.

The rest of the show lacked polish, not to mention sets adapted from a previous incarnation as the convent in Suor Angelica and turned into a Heidelberg Tavern. Somehow, none of this mattered. It was just a good home grown production done with love and respect for Romberg's still remarkable score.

The attendance was good, especially considering the lack of publicity. I would say the theater was nearly half full, and everyone stayed to the end. There is obviously an audience for this repertoire - me included!

Bottom line: Worthwhile and very entertaining!

The final performance of Metroplex Opera Company’s production of The Student Prince will take place Sunday afternoon, April 13, at the Lakewood Theater. General Admission tickets are $21 at the door. The show starts at 3:00.