Some people wander the globe in order to fulfill their Winter Term fantasies. Others wander the country. Still others explore to the fullest right here on campus, producing their own adventures through various creative exploits.

For senior Allison Choat, the excitement was conveyed in one specific, rather eccentric medium: opera. Choat, who is a Conservatory student with an independent major in opera directing, directed two Winter Term short operas, The Face on the Barroom Floor and Mahagonny Songspiel.

“Our greatest asset was that we chose shorter pieces,” said Choat when asked if Winter Term gave the casts and crews enough time to put the shows together.

The two pieces are not full-length operas as both only last approximately half an hour.

The Face on the Barroom Floor is a love story, centering on a piece of art by the same name. The other opera, Mahagonny Songspiel, is actually a group of song sketches later expressed in a full opera. It is set in the city of Mahagonny, where you can get anything as long as you pay.

“It’s a pretty graphic look — a relevant piece for our culture today. I tell people it’s exactly like Las Vegas and they know what I’m talking about,” said Choat.

The pieces were, according to Choat, “not beyond the reach of those not training to be professional singers.”

Choat chose the operas by taking into consideration the time constraints and what resources were available.

“I thought that they would be really good pieces for me as a director and designer,” she said.

Choat was pleased with the outcome and praised the work of her crew. Senior Dan Rodriguez was the musical director for the production. Sets were designed and constructed by senior Elizabeth Burke and sophomore Russell Giblin.

“At the risk of being trite…it was educational,” she said. “I was really fortunate to have a super-talented cast that was willing to experiment.”

Senior Alan Kline had a similar conclusion about his Winter Term project: the task of directing the musical Little Shop of Horrors.

“[The most rewarding part of the project was] getting to form friendships and work with a great group of people and watch them all come together to create one cohesive production,” he said.

For Kline, selecting a musical had a bit to do with size.

“I had never thought of Little Shop as a small show because it is such an ensemble piece and the scope is large. I was concerned that the play was pure camp, and I didn’t want to do something without any meaning to me. But I read it anyway and I fell in love,” said Kline.

Kline, who hopes to make a living later in life by being a director, found that the well-known musical has deeper messages hidden beneath the hysterical exterior story.

“Finding the seriousness to camp is the secret to putting on something [like this], so once I completely embraced the Faustian undertones of the story I was thrilled to do the show,” he said.

The show worked well as a Winter Term project, according to Kline, who cites the use of the ’Sco as a major benefit to the timing: “If I had not done the show over Winter Term I probably could not have gotten the ’Sco, not to mention some of my fabulous actors and crew would have been too busy during the school year to devote the energy they devoted to the show.”