CSUN OPERA WORKSHOP ENDS SERIES WITH BIG PRODUCTION.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

The Operaworks program at California State University, Northridge, is a good place to discard any preconceptions you have about opera.

Audiences today are less likely to buy into the idea of a 250-pound singer playing the role of a starving seamstress dying of consumption, or singers who plant themselves in one position and never move, noted David Aks, head of CSUN's opera program. Modern productions require more realistic acting styles in addition to superb singing.

For four weeks, 29 rising opera performers from across the country will engage in an intense series of workshops at CSUN that include yoga, stage movement, acting and even ballroom dancing as well as vocal coaching, to help them hone their skills to better suit today's performances.

``Singing opera is a physical, athletic event,'' said Ann Baltz, founder and artistic director of Operaworks, noting that singers use their whole body to sing, not just the vocal cords. ``They put a 40-pound costume on you and you have to walk out there and sing a three-hour role.''

At the end of the training program, the singers will perform an opera created using arias and duets from other productions, stitched together with a new plot and improvised dialogue. The resulting show - with 29 leading roles - is on the wacky side, but no stranger than the plots for the classical operas.

This year's three-act production, ``Royal Flush,'' features a prison warden who hates Star Trek fans, Trekkies from all walks of life and other surprise characters. The arias will be sung in several languages, but translations will be provided to the audience, Baltz said.

Arden Kaywin, a 26-year-old Los Angeles opera singer who has performed with the San Francisco Opera, said the workshops have helped her regain her sense of self as an artist.

``The director tells you this, the conductor tells you that, the rehearsal process is very short, and you can forget that you're an artist too, and that you can add a lot to the creativity of the show,'' Kaywin said. ``You don't just have to be a singing statue.''

Deborah Popham, a 28-year-old opera singer from Phoenix, Ariz., said opera has no parallel in the fine arts.

``To me, there's nothing musically to equal it,'' she said. ``You have the singers, the orchestra, plus the drama. It's the collaboration of so many people to one end.''

Operaworks is a separate, not-for-profit program that has been in residence for 14 years at CSUN, Baltz said. The two programs work together collaboratively, sharing faculty members, and participants in the Operaworks program often go on to become CSUN students.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

--Operaworks' production of ``Royal Flush'' will be 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the recital hall at California State University, Northridge. Tickets are $20. For reservations, call [phone]. For more information, visit www.operaworks.com.

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CSUN opera workshop instructor Ann Baltz plays in a rehearsal for an Operaworks' production.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

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IF YOU GO (see text)