Fall would not be complete without “A Music Mystery,” written and directed by DMC faculty member Raphael Rada partnering with pianist Michael Steele.
The show will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 in Wolfe Recital Hall, 101 Baldwin Blvd. Admission is free.
Rada has been teaching at Del Mar the past 15 years.
“Singer’s Theatre is one of the music groups in the Music Department and we present a show at the end of the semester. The students sing selections from operas, operettas and musicals,” Rada said.
Pianist Steele had his start at Del Mar as a rehearsal accompanist for the Concert Choir and Chamber singers in 2016 working with conductor Dennis Richardson.
Two years later Steele joined the Singer’s Theatre who will be performing in, “A Music Mystery,” which he has worked with before.
“I started accompanying Singer’s Theatre for the 2017-2018 school year. This will be my sixth Singer’s Theatre performance,” Steele said.
According to Marisol Salazar, Rada wrote the script in a single month.
“He chose the music then wrote the play. He chose the songs, randomly giving us a dialog, which leads into the song,” said Salazar, a music education major.
Salazar has worked with Rada before in a play called “Once Upon a Time; a musical story,” based loosely off The Three Little Pigs during Spring 2023.
DMC student Ariana Gonzalez, a biochemistry major, saw the play.
“I saw their first play Rada wrote; it was hilarious! I could not stop laughing! I already knew the plot twist, seeing it all come together was such a cool thing,” said Gonzalez, who sits in and assists her friends in the play with their lines.
In a request for a male part, DMC student Christian Rider was asked to join.
“I originally was not in the class. I was asked to join the class because he needed a male. It’s mainly females and I got the male lead,” Rider said.
Tamara Behringer, majoring in vocal music, without revealing much of the play, encourages viewers to “watch for the easter eggs” during the play within the songs and the lines.
DMC’s Music Department will feature songs from acclaimed musicals such as “The Fantasticks,” “West Side Story,” “The King and I” and more.
For more information contact Rada at rrada@delmar.edu.
