Zack Gill
Staff Writer
Wendy Thornton and William Fauver’s sophomore block class went on a field trip to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center to view the opera “Il Postino” on the evening of Sept. 21.
The LA Opera offered high school students a great opportunity with greatly reduced admission to the pre-opening night performance of “Il Postino.” Forty-seven of the 55 students in sophomore block attended the world premiere of the performance and received a behind-the-scenes look at the LA Opera.
“They brought us into a rehearsal room and allowed us to speak with one of their employees. We happened to speak with a former singer who is currently in charge of school outreach and education programs,” history teacher Fauver said.
“Il Postino” was written by Daniel Catán and is based upon the heartfelt 1993 Italian film of the same name.
“The opera is about Chilean poet Pablo Neruda when he’s exiled to Italy. He meets Mario, who becomes [his] postman. Mario is shy and Neruda is loved by many woman, and Mario finds joy and comes out of his shell around Neruda,” sophomore English teacher Thornton said.
The opera blends elements of history and literature, one of the main goals of the sophomore block, which is the combination of sophomore Modern world history and English classes taught back-to-back in the same room. Fauver and Thornton work together to combine their curriculum and shape a well-rounded understanding of the modern world.
“I think the objective of the sophomore block is to show students the importance of the synthesis between the two subjects, because when I was going into it, it didn’t really seem like it would blend that well, but after a couple weeks of being in the block class, Ms. Thornton and Mr. Fauver really showed how much connection there is between history and literature,” sophomore Aartdina Boysen said. She was one of the many students who was in attendance at the opera.
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