Opera for Children
Hansel & Gretel
Magic City Opera at the Olympia Theater
Opera is the ultimate art, conjugating music, writing, drama, visual art and dancing. Not to mention it incarnates elegance — a welcomed distraction from our sometimes inelegant times.
For children, opera has an added educational value. It increases their cognitive ability. Paula Ifft-McGirr, a kindergarten teacher, commented to Education World: “Learning opera helps increase language skills, teaches higher level thinking and creative problem-solving skills in real-world situations, involves cooperative learning, teaches tolerance and understanding of other cultures, develops an appreciation for the arts, involves all learning styles, and stimulates the imagination.”
Then, shouldn’t children be regularly fed some opera? “Well,” responded a young downtown mother, “opera can be financially prohibitive. And three hours of drama sung in foreign languages is not what her kid calls fun.
“Wait a minute,” Graham Fandrei, Magic City Opera’s Executive Director, protested. “What about social opera?” And the tall baritone-impresario explained that Magic City Opera focuses on creating short presentations, bookended with social events. “MCO operates on the precept that less is more.”
Indeed, MCO makes the genre accessible to everyone, presenting shorter and affordable productions, including free Opera in Bayfront Park. Downtown Miami is criticized for its traffic, the mega-events, omnipresent construction cranes, but locals do have rewards for their quotidian grievances, one being MCO’s Opera in the Park. It has become part of the downtown experience, part of its cachet.
History and the Future
Another perk for the neighborhood is the marriage of Miami’s historical gem, the Olympia Theater, and MCO’s opera productions for children — not an easy thing, to entertain children and keep adults engaged. “I particularly liked that a historic theater staged an opera for children,” said an enthusiastic grandfather who brought his two grandchildren to the Olympia last year. “History hosting the future kind-of-thing.”
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Last year, Magic City Opera premiered the children’s opera Hansel and Kendel. Kids loved it, parents loved it, and, hyperbole aside, we can say that by popular demand the Olympia Theater and Magic City Opera are again bringing to Downtown’s increasing number of children and families an opera that has delighted children for over a century now.
Hansel & Gretel
Based on the beloved children’s story Hansel and Gretel, this opera has been a favorite of audiences throughout the world since 1893. Hansel and Gretel are siblings, a young brother and his sister, both kidnapped by a cannibalistic witch living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The kids escape by outsmarting the witch. The tale has been adapted to various media, including opera.
British newspaper The Guardian ranked Hansel and Gretel among the top ten operas for children of all time. Here is what The Guardian commented: “It’s one of the high points of 19th-century opera, a wonderful remodeling of the language of Wagnerian music drama into a work that has the lightest of musical and dramatic touches, and never seems a moment too long.”
“It’s a magical journey into this timeless fairy tale,” said Graham Fandrei. “Be sure to dress up in Halloween costumes so you and your family can meet the performers in the actual set, and yes, collect candy!”
Can’t-miss it! Shouldn’t-miss it!
Saturday, October 20, Magic City Opera is bringing Hansel and Gretel to downtown’s Olympia Theater. There will be two shows: 2 pm and 5 pm. That’s not all: both shows are free and open t the public.
At the risk of repeating myself, what a combination: Magic City Opera, the hottest social opera in town, and the historic Olympia Theater! The world’s greatest artists have performed at the Olympia, from Elvis Presley to Luciano Pavarotti, and now, you and your kids can climb to that same stage and feel the magic!
OLYMPIA THEATER
174 E Flagler St. Miami, Fl. 33132
October 20, 2 pm and 5 pm.
Free — Get your tickets at OlympiaTheater.org
For more information on Magic City Opera MCOPERA.ORG.
