IC has so much theater on campus that I rarely venture off campus to find productions, despite nearby theaters like the Hangar and the Kitchen. This weekend, though, I ventured over to Cornell to check out the Melodramatics Theatre Company production of I Love You Because, a modern musical update of Jane Austen's Pride of Prejudice.

Melodramatics (affectionately called Melo by... various people) is run by students both at Cornell and at IC as well as members of the Ithaca community. This was the first Melo production I've had the opportunity to see, and I was pretty pleased with it.

Right off the bat, I'll say that I Love You Because isn't my favorite musical. In fact, it doesn't even make the top 20 list. This is probably because I'm a lit nerd as well as theater geek, and I can't see enough parallels between this show and Pride and Prejudice to justify its advertisement as an "update" of the novel. That said, I'm always down for a musical, and thankfully I was able to put aside my skepticism and just enjoy the show.

I Love You Because featured performances from several IC students as well as several Cornell kids and even one Ithaca high school student. My favorite characterizations came from IC students Emily Putnam ('12) and Samantha Matthews ('11), who played lead characters Marcy Fitzwilliams and Diana Bingley. What can I say? I might be biased, but those girls can sing like nobody's business. I was also impressed with two Cornell students -- ensemble member Lauren Bamford and Timothy Dyster, who played Samantha's character's love interest Jeff Bennett.

Fortunately for me, Melo's production was enjoyable enough that I was able to forget my lit nerd skepticism about I Love You Because. This reminds me: I should get off campus more often!

I Love You Because plays November 19-21 at 8pm. Tickets are available online.

It's that time of year again! This year's main stage musical is about to open on the IC campus, and everyone's buzzing about it. Children of Eden, the Stephen Schwartz musical directed by Lee Byron, chair of the theatre arts department, previews Tuesday and opens Thursday at 8:00 p.m. "Despite never having played on Broadway," the Musical Theatre International website reports, Children of Eden is a popular show and "consistently ranks among MTI's top 20 most frequently licensed titles." I can see why.

I was lucky enough to catch one of this production's last tech rehearsals this weekend, and I was thoroughly impressed with the scope of it. Eden is a big show, and it's more technically complicated than any I've seen on the IC campus so far. The story is simple enough -- it's based on stories from the Bible -- but the technical aspects are as far from that as a college campus can get. There's a turntable, an arc, glowing apples, smoke and illusion, giraffes and elephants (not REAL ones, but they're pretty cool), and more.

The production itself showcases some of the impressive musical talent in the IC theatre arts department. My favorite performances from the technical rehearsal I saw included those of Bruce Landry '12 as Japheth, Lysie Shutrump '10 as Yonah, and Jessica Bennett '11 as Mama Noah. The show is also superbly lighted by Christine Goldman '10, and choreographed by Mary Corsaro, associate professor of theatre arts.

Even if you're not a Bible story fan, this production is worth a ticket. Snakes dance, and "God" sings, and there's a turntable. And glowing apples. I can't stress that enough.

The final performances of two French operas, Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon and Maurice Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges, will be held at 8:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, in the Hoerner Theater. And yes, you should be there.

I'm the first to admit that the totality of my opera experience was shaped not by evenings at La Scala or the Met, but rather by those master thespians of the animated age, Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes ensemble. Surely Wagner himself never conjured a scene of such villainy as Elmer Fudd's chilling litany of doom: "Norf winds bwow! Souf winds bwow! Typhoons! Huwwicanes! Earfquakes! Smog!"

Anyway, if Elmer and Bugs taught me anything about opera, it's that tradition holds the spectacle of an ample soprano flying above the stage like a zeppelin in chiffon far outweighs whatever linguistic or cultural barriers might exist between 19th century European composer and 21st century schlub just there to appease his missus (even if only because it reminds him of '80s hair metal shows).

Luckily for me and the rest of the ignoratti, the immensely talented and fit non-cartoon players in our productions took lessons in aerial performance, which you can read about here (I'd show you a video, but stupid YouTube is being stupid).

The musical and theatrical folks responsible have done some excellent work to create a pretty special show, so if you haven't already checked it out make sure you get out to see this one. This is probably your only chance to see your friends sing at the top of their lungs while flying -- at least without earning a Homeland Security beat down.

Of course, that wouldn't be too out of place. To quote Bugs: "Well what did you expect from an opera? A happy ending?"