The DePaul Opera Theatre (DOT) will present "Street Scene" by Kurt Weil on Oct. 23, 24 and 25 at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. Considered the most important work of Weil's American period, the opera is based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Elmer Rice about a day in the life of a New York City tenement.

"The story focuses on Anna Maurrant and her family," explained DOT director Harry Silverstein. "The opera marries intense drama and brilliant music to tell the story of the difficult life of this family and the daily comedy and tragedy of tenement life. Although it ends with the tragic murder of Anna Maurrant, her daughter, Rose, still represents hope for the future."

"The artistic team that originally produced ‘Street Scene’-- a combination of Rice, an American playwright, Weil, a German émigré composer, and Langston Hughes, and African American poet--joined forces to create the next step in American opera," Silverstein said.

"Street Scene" will be conducted by DOT musical director Robert Kaminskas, who directed the DePaul Symphony Orchestra for performances of the operas "Dido and Aeneas" and "Die Fledermaus" last season. Singers from the DePaul School of Music’s opera program, a highly successful training ground for vocal talent, will perform the opera.

Performances of "Street Scene" will be presented on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. Admission is free. Thomas Brown, a DePaul professor of music who specializes in opera history, will give a lecture prior to the Oct. 23 performance. For more information about this and other productions of DePaul’s School of Music, call 773/325-7260.