Standing before the mesh facade of a house, Thornton School of Music master’s students rehearsed at a sitzprobe, where singers get to hear themselves with the orchestra for the first time. This was just one week before their upcoming performance of Benjamin Britten’s opera, “The Turn of the Screw.” 

As a member of the crew ascended to a woodwork balcony and stood behind the mesh, their phantom-like silhouette was projected onto the facade, revealing itself to the audience below. 

“The first time you ever see my character … you’re kind of like, ‘What the hell is that object?’” said David Roitberg, a first-year graduate student studying vocal arts performance who will be performing the prologue and as the ghost of Peter Quint.

This subtle introduction of the ghost character gives the audience a preview of the ambiguity that runs through the tale. 

Professor Ken Cazan, Thornton Opera’s resident stage director, chose to have actors embody the ghost characters. As the Governess is the only character in the play who can see the ghosts, the audience is able to experience her point of view as they watch the ghosts float across the stage. 

“It’s a piece about ghosts and about people imagining if the ghosts are real or not. Only one person sees them, and it comes about from a seed that’s been planted in her brain from somebody else,” Cazan said.

Tanvi Thatai, a first-year master’s student studying vocal arts performance, will play the role of the Governess on the Thursday performance. They said the character formulates her own story about who the other characters are.

“In the beginning, she doesn’t immediately jump to, ‘Oh my God, it’s a ghost.’ … It isn’t until a conversation that she has with the character Mrs. Grose, where she says that she knows who the governess is talking about and that he died,” Thatai said. “That’s when it clicks … and that’s when it becomes clear, to me, that the Governess is certain that it’s a ghost.”

Thatai auditioned for the show in August of 2025 and began feverishly preparing a week later upon finding out that they had been cast in the central role. 

“I really wanted to be a part of this production. I was like, ‘Just give me anything,’” Thatai said. “I would have been happy with whatever they had given me. So when I got the news, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s crazy.’ But it’s really fun.”

Preparation is a fun yet strenuous activity for the entire cast. Roitberg said some rehearsals ran over 10 hours long.

“It’s fun. It can be a little tiring, of course,” Roitberg said. “It can be a little bit draining, but that’s kind of the career.”

Cazan said his experience in directing operas helps him prepare his actors for a career in the industry. He has directed several shows for professional opera companies, including a “The Turn of the Screw” production at Opera Omaha. 

“I do a lot professionally outside of school and that’s wonderful, too, because [professional actors] already bring their knowledge of the craft to it,” Cazan said. “The unique thing about being at a university is you’re imparting knowledge about the craft and the business.”

Cazan, along with Brent McMunn, the conductor and music director of Thornton Opera as well as an associate professor of practice, select productions based on the strengths of student voices in the program. Though this method restricts the works available, Cazan said he takes creative liberties in his directorial choices to reinterpret historical contexts.

“The script is really stunning, and you can set it in pretty much any period. It doesn’t have to be Victorian or Edwardian. We’re doing it post-World War II,” Cazan said.

Though aesthetic choices shape the world of “The Turn of the Screw,” the music ultimately drives its tension and emotional beats. Cazan described the music composition as delicate yet dramatically thrilling.

 “[‘The Turn of the Screw’] is wonderful because it’s a chamber piece,” Cazan said. “It’s a small cast. It’s so thrilling. It’s such a unique story.”

The opera’s inherent ambiguity makes it essential that the audience understands every word, which isn’t always easy when singing. Thatai, who previously obtained bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance as well as linguistics at Lawrence University, said they use their background to inform their approach to the challenge. They rely on enunciation to clearly communicate every word when singing operatically. 

“When you’re singing, because all the notes and rhythms are prescribed to you already, that’s already a difference in the way that you speak,” Thatai said. “We have to take that into account when we’re singing. We still want it to be intelligible.”

The production is part of OperaFest LA and is put on by the Thornton Opera Program as well as the Thornton Symphony. It will run on Wednesday and Thursday at the Bing Theatre. 

“It was really fun to get to know people better,” Thatai said. “You just kind of form a bond with the people that are working with you in a production, especially one like this where the cast is really small and the show is really intense.”