Aria Lynn-Skov, Contributing Photographer

Yale’s undergraduate opera company is preparing for its upcoming Halloween show. 

The Opera Theatre of Yale College’s annual cabaret-style show runs Friday and Saturday at the Crescent Underground Theater below Morse and Ezra Stiles Colleges. The performance, titled “Opera Spooktacular: Monsters and Ghouls,” is a collection of five scenes from various operas. All scenes will be performed in English because the group wants to give audience members a chance to experience opera in an engaging way. 

“These are really classic scenes and classic for a reason,” Thisbe Wu ’26 said. Wu — who has been involved with the opera group since her first year — is directing three of the show’s scenes. 

She described the show as “the greatest hits of the opera canon.” 

The five scenes are taken from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” Antonín Dvořák’s “Rusalka,” Lukas Foss’s “Griffelkin,” Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” 

“They are all kind of spooky, exploring themes of monstrousness,” Ava Gaughan ’26, the artistic director of the opera company, said. “There are lots of ghosts, there are interesting supernatural creatures involved.”

For Gaughan, who is the artistic director for a second year in a row, the “Opera Spooktacular” is her ninth show with the group.

“The combination of singing in English and doing a fun, approachable theme is a really great way to get people to come see opera, and to realize that opera is actually super fun, super weird, super campy, super exciting,” Gaughan said. 

She explained that every October, the opera group puts on a cabaret-style show centered around a chosen theme. In 2023, the theme was “Disguise,” and in 2024, it was “SIX: an Opera Cabaret,” which Gaughan directed.  

Gaughan grew up singing with the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and studied operatic performance before coming to Yale, she said. In the many productions she’s been involved with here, she’s had parts singing, directing, producing, doing costume design and more. 

She explained that the opera company has a “mix of experience.” Some, like her, come in with prior training, while others are new.

“The board decided that it would be a really good opportunity to get new music directors,” Wu said. “All the music directors were freshmen who had never music directed before.” 

Charlie Zhong ’29 is the music director for the “Don Giovanni” scene. His previous performance experience includes conducting, singing, piano and theater production, but he’s new to opera, he said. 

He described working on the show as “intense” but said “it’s really fun to get to know the singers and just learn the music.” 

“I’m excited to see all the scenes come together,” he said. 

Wu also spoke about her appreciation for the collaborative nature of the show.

“I’ve worked with a fair amount of the people on this team before in other productions and it’s really fun to have repeated collaborators,” she said. “We know how the other person works, and we trust each other’s instincts.” Wu described the process as “a really wonderful way to work.”
There are three performances of “Opera Spooktacular” this weekend. Tickets can be reserved on Yale Connect.