Coastal Carolina University's Opera Workshop will present Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Old Maid and the Thief" on Friday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium. General admission tickets are $17, and discounts are available.

Under the direction of CCU music faculty Timothy Koch, director of the production, and David Bankston, stage director, CCU Opera Workshop will perform the darkly comical one-act opera that was originally commissioned and composed for NBC radio and premiered in 1939.

"The Old Maid and the Thief" is about Miss Todd, who is considered to be the town gossip. Despite her high standing in the community, she has been single for 40 years. Her housemaid, Laetitia, is worried that she will end up like her employer and falls in love with a newcomer, Bob. She convinces him to stay with her and Miss Todd, but before long, they realize that he may not be the good guy they believed him to be. Regardless, Laetitia, afraid of growing up alone, does whatever it takes to get him to stay.

The cast members are Whitney Daniels as Miss Todd, Naomi Schulman as Laetitia, James Wilson as Bob, and Molly Fay as Miss Pinkerton, Miss Todd's friend. The understudies are Valerie McDougal, Brigitte Guariglia and Megan Hoffman. The production staff includes Ann Miles, Marc Mclntyre, Brian Carter and Seth Cox.

Koch is music director and conductor of the Carolina Master Chorale, based in Myrtle Beach. He has led the group on tour performances in New York and Europe. He is also the music director at First United Methodist Church in Myrtle Beach.

Bankston has performed extensively in opera and musical theater, and he also composes and performs popular music with a folk-jazz orientation. CDs of his original songs include the autobiographical "Galvez Town" (2002) and "Jazz, Blues, Gospel Shoes" (2007).

Each semester, Coastal Carolina University Opera Workshop presents public performances of opera, cutting-edge musical theatre and operetta.  Singers and actors have the opportunity to perform interesting and exciting repertoire while developing facility with spoken dialogue, appropriate singing styles and stage movement.  The goal of Opera Workshop is to equip beginning and intermediate singer-actors with the diverse skills needed by American singers in the 21st century.

Senior citizens, OLLI members, alumni, teens, and CCU/HGTC faculty and staff may purchase tickets for $12. Tickets for children and CCU/HGTC students are $5. To purchase tickets, contact the Wheelwright Auditorium at 843-349-ARTS (2787) or visit between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be purchased at ticketreturn.com. The auditorium is located at 108 Spadoni Park on the CCU campus in Conway.