PERFORMERS CURE SUMMERTIME BLUES

The Saint Louis Symphony, a Shakespearian national touring company based in Virginia, and "The Stephen Foster Story" have something in common this summer: They will use the talents of former Cape Girardeau performers.

Soprano Lizbeth Estes Reszel's performance Saturday night with the Saint Louis Symphony is her first featured role with a major performing group.

Reszel, a 1978 graduate of Central High School who now lives in Chicago, will sing a duet of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Powell Hall in St. Louis.

Another performer with exciting prospects is Southeast actress Jenny Adams, who has been hired to perform with the home base company of the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, a theatrical troupe that tours nationally.

Baritone Lance Lancaster, meanwhile, has received a young artist award from the Saint Louis Bach Choral Society and currently is playing a major role in "The Stephen Foster Story," a production staged in Bardstown, Ky.

Reszel will sing a duet of Mendelssohn's music with mezzo-soprano Nora Justak Teipen as part of the Saint Louis Symphony's Summerfest series.

She has sung with the Chicago Symphony and has been a soloist with the Grant Park Symphonia and the Ravinia Summer Festival.

The daughter of James and Beverly Estes, Reszel was the first vocal performance major to graduate from Southeast. She also earned a master's degree from Webster College in St. Louis.

After four years of studies at Southeast, Adams will join the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express at the beginning of July. She auditioned for the company during its week of performances and workshops at Southeast in April.

"I didn't have anything to lose," she said of the decision to audition. "I really didn't expect to get cast."

Getting to know the actors and actresses who were here made the decision to take the job an easy one, she said.

"They were impressive as people. They weren't the typical theater freaks people think of ... And I love Shakespeare."

Adams will be one of four women and 11 men who will form a new Harrisonburg, Va.-based company that will feed performers into the touring group. She will remain in Virginia until December, at which time she hopes to join the regular company, which this year is giving 220 performances in 30 states.

Adams most recently played Death in the University Theatre production of "Everyman." She is a veteran of many other university productions and Broadway Community Theatre plays.

A 1991 graduate of Cape Central, Adams is the daughter of Bill and Kay Adams of Cape Girardeau.

"The Stephen Foster Story" has been running for 35 years at My Old Kentucky Home State Park. Lancaster will play the role of Dudley Morton, Foster's rival for the hand of Jane McDowell.

"My part is basically an actor who sings a song," said Lancaster, a former student of assistant professor of music Christopher Goeke.

A St. Louisan, Lancaster most recently appeared as Readymoney Matt in the University Theatre's production of "The Threepenny Opera."

As a member of the Bach Choral Society, he will perform both solo recitals and as a member of the choir, which often appears with the Saint Louis Symphony.

Tom Lowery, another Southeast graduate and Goeke student, is singing in the production's chorus and is the understudy to the lead. He performs the Foster role once a week.

Three other students of Goeke's -- Chris Hayes, Heather Bollinger and Joshua Rhine, are appearing at Six Flags Over Mid-America in St. Louis this summer. Bollinger has the lead role in the Miss Kitty Saloon.