Contributed by Lower School Performing Arts Teacher Thomas Freeman
I was approached by the Education Manager of City Springs to bring some students over and sing with the Atlanta Opera for Hansel and Gretel as part of TAO’s Studio Tour. On their tour, they are playing 88 venues this season, and were at City Springs for just one day. Looking at the lists of students who had auditioned for opportunities in class, I gave those kids first choice of attending and singing with the Opera.
The students who were interested were sent sheet music and rehearsal tracks to work with over the long weekend in January. Coming back from the short break, we came in Tuesday and had an hour long rehearsal.
I was pleasantly surprised how many of the performers knew the music which allowed us to nuance the moments of the song and talk about opera and acting through the songs. During that one rehearsal, we auditioned and cast a trio of singers to be the Voice of Cuckoo (Madison Dunn, EmmaLaura Woodall, and Allie Parker).
Fourteen fifth graders and I walked to City Springs at 9:00 a.m. on January 22, and had a rehearsal with the cast for placement on stage with their set. We performed with the professional cast and crew at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. After their performances, we headed back in time for them to practice for their ERB’s!
We are grateful for the opportunity to perform with the Atlanta Opera!
