
poster by Kirstie Nichols
HANSEL AND GRETEL
Open Door Opera return to the King’s Head with Hansel and Gretel, Engelbert Humperdinck’s beautiful account of this beloved fairy-tale. First performed on December 23rd 1893, Hansel and Gretel quickly became the opera associated with Christmas and has been ever since. It even contains its own pantomime!
When their Mother sends Hansel and Gretel out of the house to look for food, the children quickly find themselves lost in the depths of a dark forest. Finally, almost starving, they find a house made of bread, cakes and sweets. No one’s about; in their relief they begin to eat. However, the house is inhabited by a Witch, who hunts children to turn into gingerbread. She captures Hansel and Gretel, and begins to fatten them up, ready for the oven…
Conducted by the dazzling Kelvin Lim, with a beautiful new translation and direction by Lewis Reynolds and designs by world-renowned artist Valentino Monticello, you won’t find a more exciting theatrical experience to remember this Christmas.
The Kings’ Head Theatre, 7.15pm on December 17, 19-23, 27-30
Tickets: £17.50, £22.50 (reserved), £15 (concs)
Box office: 020 7478 0160
Click on the links below to see how the costume-making process has progressed! Eleanor is doing a fantastic job sourcing clothes and making some costumes from scratch - perhaps we should auction them off afterwards??
http://dresstoexpress.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/a-very-grimm-christmas/
Gretel and Hansel?
http://dresstoexpress.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/if-you-go-into-the-woods-today/
Saturday 17th December
Gretel - Rebecca Dale
Hansel - Katie Slater
Mother - Miriam Sharrad
Father - Oliver Gibbs
Witch - Rhonda Browne
Sand Man - Daisy Brown
Dew Fairy - Daisy Brown
Following our critically acclaimed show at the King's Head this
summer, Open Door Opera are producing Engelbert Humperdinck's
enchanting "Hansel and Gretel" - THIS CHRISTMAS!
Open Door Opera are poised to take on N1 with a double-bill of Menotti in celebration of Gian Carlo Menotti's centenary: The Telephone and The Medium. In The Telephone, Lucy is about to open an important gift from Ben, only to be interrupted by his main rival: the person at the end of the Telephone. Madly trying to get a direct line to Lucy himself, Ben solves the situation in a rather appropriate way. In The Medium, Madame Flora is driven to distraction when one of her sham séances produces genuine contact with the Other Side. As the relationship between her daughter Monica and her adopted son Toby develops beyond the platonic, Mme Flora tries in vain to convince her clients - and herself - that she is a fraud. One of the composer's most popular pieces, The Medium has never lost its power to thrill... or chill. Come and join us for our King's Head Theatre debut. This Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday (22, 24, 25, 27 August) at the King's Head Theatre, Upper Street, Islington. THE CAST AND CREW Rebecca Dale - Lucy, The Telephone Rebecca Dale began her vocal training with Cynthia Jolly and sang in regular concerts and festivals in her home county of Hampshire. Rebecca graduated with a Masters in Music at Trinity College of Music in 2008 where she studied under the direction of Teresa Cahill. Rebecca has recently completed the APS Intensive Opera Course at Riverside Studios and currently studies with Patricia Sabin and has coaching with Robin Newton and Kelvin Lim. Operatic Roles include; ‘Ninetta’ La Finta Semplice (Opera at Home), ‘Papagena’ Die Zauberflöte (Opéra de Baugé), ‘Susanna’ (cover) Le Nozze di Figaro (Opera London), ‘Tatyana’(cover) Eugene Onegin & ‘Gianetta’ L’elisir d’amore (Hampstead Garden Opera). Barnaby Beer - Ben The Telephone/ Mr. Gobineau, The Medium Barnaby read French and German at Bristol University. Operatic roles include Colline La Bohème; Captain Corcoran HMS Pinafore and Marco Gianni Schicchi, all for Opera South East. Scenes include Golaud Pelléas et Mélisande; Seneca L'incoronazione di Poppea and Dad Greek by Mark-Anthony Turnage, all at Birkbeck University. Catherine Carter - Madame Flora, The Medium Catherine trained at Trinity college of music receiving her MMus with distinction in June this year. Her operatic experience includes Marcellina (The Marriage of Figaro) with Harrow opera, Mrs Herring (Albert Herring) with Trinity Opera ensemble, Second Lady (The Magic Flute) with the Choir of London, Bianca (The Rape of Lucretia) and the Old lady (Candide) with Cambridge Univeristy Opera Society. She recently performed John Cage's Aria as part of the new music series at Kettles Yard and last year joined Mahogany Opera and Aurora orchestra for a staged performance of Berio's Laborintus II at LSO st Lukes. After The Medium her next project is The Difference Engine by Dario Palermo which premieres at the Gate Theatre Notting Hill as part of Dance Umbrella 2011. Daniel Ash - Toby, The Medium This is Daniel's first time working with Open Door Opera. He has a particular interest in physical theatre and devised work; he recently performed in a physical theatre project and a devised piece at Battersea Arts Centre, as well as an installation piece at the V&A Museum. CastingCallPro ID: 328497 Alexandra Stevenson - Monica, The Medium Alexandra has sung recitals at St. Johns, Smith Square,The National Gallery, The Chelsea Schubert Festival in London and the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. Roles performed in operas and scenes include Queen of the Night The Magic Flute and Rosalinde Die Fledermaus. A regular oratorio soloist, she has also sung jazz at London’s Pigalle Club. She studies with Ashley Stafford. www.alexandrastevenson.co.uk. Michelle Cressida - Mrs. Gobineau, The Medium Michelle Cressida originally trained as a harpist and played professionally throughout the UK and abroad until 2005. Since retraining as a singer, she has worked with companies including Opera London, Vox Lirica and Opera Rustica. Most recently she performed Katya Kabanova(Katya) with the Morley Opera School at the Bridewell Theatre under the direction of Jonathan Cocker. For further information, please go to her website www.michellecressida.com Cecilia Jane - Mrs. Nolan, The Medium Cecilia has been singing with choirs all her life and continues to be a regular oratorio soloist. Now, after a brief detour via degrees in biochemistry and the law, she is throwing herself into the world of opera with a passion! She is currently studying at Morley College Opera School, appearing in scenes from Cosi Fan Tutte (Dorabella), Werther (Charlotte), Kat'a Kabanova (Varvara), La Rondine (Suzy) and Les Troyens (Didon). Sarah Latto- Musical Director/Piano, The Telephone Sarah is a freelance musical director, conductor and pianist. Since graduating in 2010, she moved to Brighton, where she worked with the Brighton Early Music Festival as a choral conductor and vocal coach. As a pianist, she has acted as an accompanist and repetiteur for a number of productions, including the Turn of the Screw, Pelléas et Mélisande and Jepthe. Sarah was a choral scholar with Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, and her interest in choral music and conducting stem from this time. The rest of her student life was spent in the theatre, musically directing a diverse range of productions, from The Mikado to The Wizard of Oz. She hopes to continue in this vein, working with musicians in many different genres of theatre and performance. James Batty - Musical Director/Piano, The Medium James Batty studied piano and composition at Chetham’s School of Music before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read Music and Modern Languages and sang with Trinity College Choir. Recent musical director and assistant musical director credits include performances of Steve Reich’s video opera Three Tales at the Tête-à-Tête New Opera Festival (Ensemble BPM, Riverside Studios), musical The Ripper’s 5 by Karlton Parris and Luisa Jay at the New York Fringe (Skint Productions, Bleecker Street, also orchestrator) and operetta The Gentlemen Taken (Trinity College, Cambridge, also composer, and another collaboration with Lewis Reynolds). James loves working with singers of all ages and levels of experience, and recently co-led a course for young singers Hemavan, Sweden (Sånglägret 2011). Lewis Reynolds - Director Lewis trained in the National Youth Theatre and at Welsh National Opera. Whilst at Cambridge he assisted the librettist Alice Goodman. Recent productions include Stone Heart (Arcola Theatre) and Mrs Lazarus (Purcell Room), alongside four short films. He is director in residence at the Nordisk Sångfestival, Lapland. Roland Reynolds - Assistant Director, Stage Manager The Medium A young playwright, director and actor, Roland Reynolds' first play was produced under his direction at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, patronised by Professor Richard Demarco, followed by a new work in 2009, and Teen Bewitched with Open Door Opera in 2010, which he stage-managed. He appeared with Open Door Opera again at the Grimeborn Festival, as assistant director of Stone Heart. He took a three month internship with the Sideshow Theatre Company, Chicago, Illinois in late 2010, where he worked as a casting assistant, artistic consultant, and assistant director and actor in three separate shows. Claudia Parkes - Stage Manager The Telephone Claudia has just graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, where she studied English, followed by a one year course in Management Studies. She was a Choral Scholar and enjoyed being involved in every aspect of opera; from being onstage to directing, and she is now enjoying the hands-on nature of stage managing. Danelia Goyes Tellez - Designer Beginning her professional artistic career with a visual arts degree at Javeriana University in Bogota in her native Colombia, Danelia Goyes Tellez has seen her artistic talent and expression taking her on an extraordinary journey. After a year as set designer for an animation studio in Bogota she travelled to London where she is now studying fashion design and freelancing as set designer and photographer. Sarah McColgan - Lighting Designer Sarah Mc Colgan is a recent RADA graduate in technical theatre specialising in lighting. While at RADA she undertook roles as production electrician and lighting designer. Sarah also has a BA in drama and theatre studies, and french from University College Cork, Ireland.
What did you think of tonight’s performance of our Menotti Double-Bill?
“It confirmed the fact that we ought to know more of him – he’s due for a revival in a big way! The performances were great – wonderful!”
“Really enjoyed them both – fantastic! Really engaging and different – it was great!”
“Very good – very enjoyable” – “Catherine Carter – fantastic and intense as the lead role” “Will definitely come to another Open Door Opera production”.
“Amazing – so fresh – great singers – lovely young up and coming voices” “it’s so lively and so close up – really intimate and really in your face” “It’s great value for money too – I’ll definitely come again – are there any tickets left for Wednesday?”.
So... Did you enjoy tonight’s performance?
“I thought it was really good. Yeah – we really enjoyed it – it was... It was really scary – when it went dark I thought something would appear!” “The way Baba was dressed – you wouldn’t expect her to belt out loads of opera!”
Is it the first time you’ve been to the opera? “Yeah”
Will you come again? “Yeah – it was awesome!”
Following two amazing nights at the Scoop at More London... we have been sent the following links to reviews and pictures of the show. If you have any pictures or reviewed the show - please do write in and tell us at mail [at] opendooropera.com.
Cherry Potts' review is here: http://cherrypottswriter.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/open-door-opera-iphigenia/
and some dress rehearsal photos by Michal Zahac found below:
ALSO
IPHIGENIA - adapted from the Euripides, Racine and Gluck by Lewis Reynolds
Calliope - Servane le Moller (accordioniste)Agamemnon - David Durham
Arcas - Will Sharpe
Calchas - David Ryall
Iphigenia - Charlie Ryall