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"The Consul," composed by Gian-Carlo Menotti, opens WSU’s Opera Series with performances Oct. 21-24 in Miller Concert Hall.

Many consider this powerful story of political persecution and red tape Menotti’s finest opera. The inspiration for the opera is thought to have come from a post-World War II article in The New York Times describing how a middle-age Polish immigrant was refused admission to the United States by the immigration board and hung herself at Ellis Island. Its timely premiere came just as the Berlin airlift ended, and the Korean War began a few weeks after the conviction of Alger Hiss for selling State Department secrets to the Russians. The recent McCarron Act had forbidden America to any outsider whose political yearnings might be deemed unsuitable.

In "The Consul," a woman’s husband is threatened by secret police for his politics; he flees the country, instructing her to go to the consulate to obtain a visa so she can join him. She finds herself trapped in a hellish catch-22 of paperwork and frustration.

After opening on Broadway, "The Consul" won the Donaldson Award for Best Musical, and Menotti won four awards for composer, lyricist, librettist and director. The Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award followed these awards for 1950.

Matt Bean, associate professor, directs this performance, and Robert Glasmann, associate professor, is conductor.

Opera and musical theater will produce "Cabaret" Dec. 2-5. The Opera Series will present two other events, "The Desert Song" March 9-12 and a double bill, "talk opera" and "Les Mamelles de Tiresias" April 27-30.