Written by Erin Lindstrom on 26 October 2015.
Peanut butter and jelly.
French fries and ketchup.
Kids and the opera?
I was confused at first too, but after attending “Opera Tales” at the Harrison Opera House Sunday, October 11th, I’m a believer.
Opera Tales is a touring series that will be back two more times in the coming months, each time performing a different story.
Upon arrival at Harrison Opera House, my little people and I grabbed our tickets, went inside and were greeted by kittens. Yes, real, live kittens!
The tables in the lobby were covered with arts and crafts supplies where children were encouraged to decorate masks and opera house staff kindly helped parents (ahem, me) who were juggling multiple children. At the other end of the hallway, hula hoops were set out (by a genius who knew that if kids had an opportunity to move before the show, they’d be more likely to sit quietly and watch!) and the kids took turns playing with the hoops and seeing how long they could keep them up.
The show itself was great. Before starting the four performers came out, introduced themselves, and told us what the opera is and what to expect. They also mentioned that if you love something you see, yell “BRAVO!” and that happened A LOT throughout the show.
Each of the three short stories performed was the perfect length to keep the kids’ attention.
My favorite part of the Opera Tales experience was the Q+A after the final performance. Children in the audience asked questions about how long the performers have been singing/acting/playing instruments, where they’re from, where is their favorite venue to perform and each of the performers attentively listened to the young audience members and responded to their questions enthusiastically.
The performers told the audience that they had each gone to college for performing and reminded them that there are a plethora of careers available to them in the theater–from lighting and stage design to playing instruments and singing. They used their position on stage to inspire the kids to believe that they could make it happen just as they had.
The moral of the story: bringing kids to see young adults living their dreams shows them that it’s possible for them to live theirs.
And that lesson is priceless.
Opera Tales will be back at Harrison Opera House:
Sunday 12/3 for Mixed Up Mother Goose
Sunday 2/28 for Little Red Riding Hood
Activities start in the lobby at 2 pm, show starts at 3 pm. For more info visit here.
For more info visit here.vaopera.org or call 866.673.7282.