By Bethany Peterson/nw news editor

Staged by TCU students performing opera at NW Campus, The Face on the Barroom Floor by Henry Mollicone tells the story of two parallel dramas taking place in the same barroom separated by 100 years.

A bartender, Tom, tells two friends, Larry and Isabel, the story of a poor traveler who offered to paint the face of the only woman he ever loved on the barroom floor to pay for his drinks.

He paints a portrait of Madeline, a bargirl who the bartender is sweet on. The two men fight, and Madeline tries to break it up with tragic results.

Back in the present, Larry and Isabel enjoy the story. But when a drunken Larry attempts to force Isabel to dance, it is revealed that the current bartender has a past with Isabel, and again, two men fight over a woman.

The performance starts  at 7 p.m. March 8 in the Recital Hall (WFAB 1105) and lasts less than an hour. Admission is free.

The performance is part of the Tarrant Opera Project started in 2009, an effort to increase the opportunities for opera students attending Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan, the University of Texas Arlington and TCC. The project brings together students and faculty from all the schools into one production.

“This production is part of an ongoing effort to increase performances of opera at TOP-member institutions,” said Richard Estes, TCU music associate professor and director of this performance.

This opera was chosen for several reasons, he said.

“It is under one hour in duration, easily accessible to those unfamiliar with opera as a genre and because it is physically on a small scale and portable,” Estes said. “Each school waits to see what talent they have that semester.”

The colleges then decide which production they can stage with the singers they have available. The three students in this opera are all from TCU.

The Face has already been performed at TCU, and the group hopes to schedule dates at UT-Arlington, Texas Wesleyan and other TCC campuses.