The house of the Crafton-Preyer Theatre was empty and dark. The curtain never rose.

In a unique theater twist, the stage alone became a new kind of performing space called Stage Too.

The audience sits comfortably on large risers that run along the back wall while clotheslines of gossamer laundry criss-cross the ceiling. New York City brownstone stoops are tucked in amongst the risers, giving everyone a front-row view. Even the trap door on the floor of the stage is wide open with a rail alluding to the basement apartment where the Olsen family lives.

This is the setting for “Street Scene,” an opera co-produced by University Theater and the Kansas University School of Music and Dance. Guest directed by Tazewell Thompson, the play written by Elmer Rice examines the destruction of a family because of infidelity.

Considered an American opera, the words of the songs were written by former Lawrence resident and Harlem Renaissance figure Langston Hughes. His allusion to the lilac bush as a symbol of love, with heart-shaped leaves, and the sextet praising ice cream had his special touch.

The music, composed by Kurt Weill in 1946, is a mix of Tin Pan Alley, street jazz and big Broadway. The brass section blares red hot while at other times strings swell, harps roll and chimes ring.

Sixty members of the KU Symphony Orchestra play from risers within the pit. It’s worth the cost of the ticket to hear the music performed so beautifully.

It is, stylistically, over the top in lushness and emotion reminding one of a grittier Rodgers and Hammerstein musical without the big production numbers.

The show was well cast with the formidable soprano Sylvia Stoner taking the lead role as the emotionally neglected housewife. Don’t miss an opportunity to hear this singer while she is still a student at KU.

A disciplined and gifted performer, she never leaves character, even behind the scenes. She is completely attuned to the subtle energy of the orchestra, and she sings with beauty and richness and strength.

The play calls for a diverse cast of newly arrived immigrants living in New York, so accents were important. The audience hears Irish, Italian, German/Scandinavian and Jewish accents amid the broad wisecracking sound of Brooklyn and the Bronx.

This might have been the most challenging part of performing for the young actors, but they were all convincing and distinct.

Roller skating in from the wings, Young Willie, played by young student Jayke Scott Workman, was excellent. As the mischievous son and neighborhood bad boy wannabe, his tough-guy attitude was right out of “The Little Rascals.” Keep an eye on him.

The star-crossed lovers, Rose and Sam, played by Amy Cahill and Charles Martinez, sang with a lovely purity. Martinez has a sweet tenor voice without a heavy vibrato that makes him a perfect lovelorn hero. Unfortunately, Cahill’s microphone tended to distort her beautiful tone when she sang fortissimo.

Other standouts include the angry husband, Frank Maurrant, played by John Dalton Frederick; Meaghan Deiter, who captures attention as the self-righteous Irish neighbor who insinuates and struts with moral authority; and Italian husband Benjamin Cleveland, whose gorgeous voice and convincing accent added buoyancy to the performance.

Two of the most delightful scenes were also the most unnecessary to the plot, and it was difficult to fully enjoy them as the performance stretched into the three-hour zone.

Despite its duration, “Street Scene” is an intimate, well produced, well performed production worth seeing this fall.

“Street Scene” continues with shows at 2:30 p.m. today and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.