As the audience filtered into the recital hall of the Doudna Fine Arts Center, the mood was set by the dimly lit stage and the sounds of classic rock songs being played on the radio.

The stage was set with various props from ladders to a cart of scrap wood; setting the scene of the backstage area at the Imperial Opera House.

The lights of the concert hall were dimmed, and a hush fell over the audience as the first of two performances for the music theatre/opera “The Apprentices” began.

For a moment, the audience sat in the silence and the dark of the theatre as the first performers took the stage.

The show began with the performance of “Hurry, scurry,” from “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini.

Thursday night’s musical theatre/opera showed audience members the story of the Imperial Opera House’s apprentices who decide to put aside their work of cutting boards and sewing costumes and sing songs of their favorite operas.

“The Apprentices” featured songs from “The Barber of Seville,” “Oklahoma!” and “The Ghost of Versailles.”

After the performance of “Come now, my darling” from “The Ghost of Versailles” Jonathan Trotter’s character, James, added in his own comedy to the show.

“That was a haunting tune,” Trotter said. “It’s funny because it’s ghosts.”

Throughout the show, characters provided their own explanations of the English and Italian operas, giving audience members a summary of the stories that the songs tell.

After the first five songs were performed, a ten-minute intermission was given where university marketing director Stacia Lynch expressed her satisfaction of the show.

“I’m enjoying all of it, I just think the students are extremely talented,” Lynch said.

The second act started with “The Spinning Quartet” by Friedrich von Flotow, where performers used wheels to imitate spinning wheels as they sang in a quartet.

The performance closed with a different kind of piece than the previous operatic selections with “Many a New Day” from the musical “Oklahoma!”

As the women of the production sang and danced center stage, the men in the back goofed around. The men finally had their turn to shine after barging in on the women’s part and singing it in falsetto.

The audience clapped and yelled as the men hammed it up while hitting the high notes.

After the cast members took their bows, the recital hall cleared out as faculty, students, and family members gathered in the foyer of the Doudna to praise the performers.

On his way out of the hall, Adam Stich, writer of “The Apprentices” dialogue and director of University Mixed Chorus, stopped to thank patrons for seeing the show.

“I was really happy,” Stich said. “The students did a great job and they really worked hard.”

Sam Bohne can be reached at 581-7942 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com