'Doing what the music tells us to do'

Though Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers are often credited with creating the “integrated” musical, they can fill an evening with songs that stand on their own. On Saturday, the South Shore Conservancy in Hingham plans to do just that with “Some Enchanted Evening.’’

In an interview with the Globe, Beth MacLeod, the conservancy’s director of performance and a Julliard-trained singer in the show, talks about presenting such familiar songs in a new setting.

(From left) Stephen Deitz, Beth MacLeod, Jennie Mulqueen, Lorna Jane Norris.

The show is through-composed, like an opera, and there’s no speaking. You could, as the libretto states, simply put five music stands on the stage and have the singers just do it as a concert performance. Although I toyed with that idea, I toyed with it very briefly. The tunes are beautiful by themselves, but adding something in the way of drama really does help bring it alive for people.

The show begins with singers “backstage” warming up -- “ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, haaaaa” -- and you get little snippets of the opening, and the people will be in rehearsal clothes. And as they leave the stage to sing their solos, they change into concert attire. For the second half, I think we’re going to be more formal, and add some color to the stage -- it’s an outdoor amphitheater, and the stage is very big and white, and otherwise there’s not a lot for the audience to look at except the two pianos.

The libretto is simply the words taken from the [Rodgers and Hammerstein] scores; it’s nothing else. So like an opera, we’re going back to the music, and doing what the music tells us to do.

These are opera singers who’ll be performing, like our bass George Cordes, who sings with the Metropolitian Opera, and our tenor Neil Harrelson has sung with the City Opera in New York. What I’ve noticed is that the music for the men tends to be much larger, and operatic, especially for the bass.

As singers, we’re very respectful of the historical aspect of each of these pieces -- and almost all of these pieces are well-known -- but I do feel that because we’re all experienced professionals, we’ll bring a lot of our own contributions.

People will hear the beautiful melodies that they love, and the orchestration of two pianos is very lush. Nothing’s put to a strange beat, but every once in a while, there will be an unusual twist. Like “Maria” from “The Sound of Music” is written for the Mother Superior, but it will be sung by a tenor. And there’s a really fun trio version of “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.”

From “Oklahoma!’’ George is performing “Lonely Room” and not “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” which is what you’d think people would find interesting. But “Lonely Room” is extremely dramatic and quite overpowering. Directly after that, I have to sing, “In My Own Little Corner,” which isn’t going to be easy.

“Some Enchanted Evening” will be performed Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Jane Carr Amphitheater, One Conservatory Drive, Hingham. Jennie Mulqueen, Lorna Jane Norris, Beth MacLeod, Neil Harrelson, and George Cordes will be singing, with Stephen Deitz and Elizabeth Cordes on piano. Tickets are $15 and $25. Call 781-749-7565 or visit http://www.sscmusic.org/evenings_under_the_stars.html