Rio Grande City students build church, fortress for opera

RIO GRANDE CITY - The Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle took 60 years to build.

But Rio Grande City High School students were able to reconstruct it in just a few weeks.

"It was easy for them," said Rene Garza, the school's construction trades instructor. "They were familiar with all this stuff."

Garza's advanced construction trades class constructed the sets for South Texas Lyric Opera's "Tosca," which is set to open tonight at the McAllen Civic Center.

The opera, set in 1800s Rome, begins in Sant'Andrea, a church completed in 1650, then moves to a police station and ends tragically on the ramparts of an Italian fortress at dawn. There, the heroine of the story leaps to her death.

The students cut, framed and assembled nearly 30 individual set pieces, 16 feet tall and five feet wide, from blueprints, Garza said.

Mission artist David Muñoz then painted backgrounds for the frames, which include windows and doors when needed.

Lyric Opera Vice President Paco Zarate, a member of the Rio Grande City School Board, approached Garza to help with the ambitious set design.

"We have a shoestring budget," Zarate explained.

The company's productions use donations and help from South Texas College to make ends meet. Ticket costs for "Tosca" are listed at $25 to $55.

Some of the Rio Grande City students plan to attend the show with Garza tonight. None of them, Garza included, has seen an opera before.

"It'll be quite an experience for my kids," he said. "I'd like to see what (the sets) look like all finished."

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Sara Perkins covers Mission, western Hidalgo County, Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4472.

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If you go

Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca"

South Texas Lyric Opera

Tuesday and Thursday

8 p.m., McAllen Civic Center, 1300 S. 10th St, McAllen

For more information, call (956) 872-6478, or the box office at (956) 688-3400.