The Department of Fine and Performing Arts showcased many talented students in the spring Opera/Music Theatre Workshop “Two Fairy Tales: Hansel and Gretel and Cendrillon (Cinderella),” which was performed at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts.  
The performances took place on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The first featured fairy tale was Hansel and Gretel. Allison Joiner, a senior majoring in vocal performance, played the role of young boy Hansel, a character who earned several laughs from the audience.
In Thursday’s production, the Gingerbread Witch was played by Chase Ledet, a senior majoring in vocal performance. Ledet, who was featured in several smaller roles in past Southeastern operas, embraced the part of the witch by getting in touch with his theatrical side.
“It’s a really dramatic role,” said Ledet. “I was really excited to be able to be cast in it because I like being dramatic, and it let me really open up on stage for the first time. It was a lot of fun.”
The other fairy tale was Cendrillon, which is the original French musical version of Cinderella by Pauline Viardot and translated to English by Rachel M. Harris.
“It was really amazing,” said Kristina Temple, a junior majoring in vocal performance, who played the part of Cinderella in the opera on both nights. “Cinderella is my favorite princess, and it has always been a dream of mine to play this character. My dream definitely came true tonight on the stage.”
One character from Cendrillon who had a larger role than in the Disney movie was La Fée, or as most people know her, the Fairy Godmother.
BriAnna Renee Kristin Dewar, a second year Southeastern student studying vocal performance, took on the role of La Fée for both nights of the opera.
“Today was crazy,” said Dewar. “It’s really nice when you add the audience because it adds that extra element of laughter and energy and it changes the show completely. It was a beautiful turnout tonight. Lots of people came, lots of people really responded to the show.”  
Performers raved about the amount of time and energy that went into the fairy tale opera.
“It took lots of preparation, lots of hard work, staying late nights, but it all paid off tonight,” said Temple.