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“Cinderella” is production finale for
opera professor Lynn Stradley

Lynn Stradley, seated, coaches students Leslie Sandefur and Brian Watson as they prepare for opening night and he prepares to retire.

A simple postcard led Professor Lynn Stradley to Sacramento State, where he has inspired and led students for 30 years through one of music’s most difficult disciplines – opera.

This year’s production of Jules Massenet’s Cinderella will be Stradley’s last at Sacramento State. He’s decided to retire, although he won’t be taking it easy.

In the last three decades, Stradley, 64, has coached students in their singing, produced and directed operas for Sacramento State and, when he managed to find some spare time in between all that, performed in operas, musicals and non-musical theater.

His campus headquarters is a combination office and studio, with a piano and music stand for his students’ voice lessons. Posters of productions that Stradley has directed or acted in decorate the walls.

Stradley was teaching at Virginia Tech and looking for a campus that would support his passion for singing and opera when a music personnel agency sent him a postcard about Sacramento State. It was one of several other offers.

“This one just seemed appealing so I applied for it,” Stradley said. “My first trip to California was my interview, and lo and behold, it worked out.”

He and his wife, Carol, put down roots in the community and sent three children through Sacramento’s public school system. “We had no idea we’d be staying this long, but it worked out very nicely,” Stradley said.

Stradley found himself drawn to music and theater at a young age, studying piano through high school and performing in plays.

He went to his first opera as a sophomore at Emory & Henry College in Virginia, catching The Barber of Seville with the great baritone Sherrill Milnes. “He was so animated and was having such fun, I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do,’” Stradley said.

His resume includes an impressive lineup of productions at Sacramento State, including Die Fledermaus, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Magic Flute. As an actor-singer, Stradley has appeared in productions of The Fantasticks, A Little Night Music, and Eugene Onegin.

More recently, Stradley has tried his hand at non-musical roles, including The Taming of the Shrew, and As You Like It.

This newest stage pursuit began when his son, David, was cast in Romeo and Juliet for the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival seven years ago. Noticing that some of the actors were his own age, Stradley talked to the director, and got around to auditioning a couple years later, winning the part of King Duncan in Macbeth. “I made my Shakespeare debut at age 59,” Stradley said.

Lynn Stradley’s dedication will be missed by his fellow instructors and the students.

It’s because of Stradley that Sacramento State is able to present fully staged opera productions, Music Department Chair Ernie Hills said.

“He’s really built this opera program from scratch,” Hills said. “Quite a few students choose Sac State specifically so they can participate in the opera program.”

Meghan Gibbens, who plays the stepmother in Cinderella, observed that Stradley was not closed off to the students’ ideas during productions. “He lets you bring your own character to the table,” Gibbens said.

Fairy Godmother Elizabeth Berkley noted what an impact Stradley’s vast experience has had on the productions. “He brings a perspective of a long history of other productions and what their standards have been,” Berkley said.

Cinderella will premiere at the University Theatre on May 11 at 8 p.m. Other evening performances are scheduled for May 17 and 19, with a matinee set for May 13 at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $18 general admission and $12 for students and seniors. For tickets, call 278-4823, go to tickets.com, or stop by Sacramento State’s Ticket Office.

Graduate assistant Leslie Sandefur is co-director. Conductors are Professor Leo Eylar and Ryan Murray. Choreography is by Sarah Henshaw.

The role of Cinderella is double cast, with Liisa Davila portraying her May 11 and 17. Sandefur takes on the duties for the May 13 and 19 performances. Their Prince Charming is played by Robert Vann.

“Musically it’s challenging. Very difficult, but very beautiful music,” Stradley said. “Gosh, it’s gorgeous.”

And with 30 actors involved in the production, there is a lot of movement about the stage during the numbers as soloists take turns performing in the more elaborate scenes.

Soon Stradley will put that behind him and begin the next act of his life, and he’s not slowing down. Upcoming projects include more stage roles, as well as trips to Europe to see plays there, particularly in England.

He’s enjoyed his years at Sacramento State, helping others realize their operatic dreams, but he also looks forward to the future. “It’s time to let go and move on,” Stradley said.