A DARK FAIRY TALE COMES TO MUSICAL LIFE IN HUMPERDINCK'S OPERA HANSEL UND GRETEL
AT OBERLIN COLLEGE’S
HALL AUDITORIUM,
NOVEMBER 12, 14, 15 & 16
With A Special Appearance
By Members Of The Oberlin Choristers
***Limited seating available for the weekend performances. Call the Central Ticket Service at 775-8169 to confirm ticket availability.***

OBERLIN, OHIO— Engelbert Humperdinck's opera Hansel und Gretel, a dark but richly charming retelling of the famous Grimm fairy tale, comes out of the woods and onto the stage of Oberlin College's Hall Auditorium with 8pm performances Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, Nov. 12, 14, and 15, with a 2pm matinee Sunday, Nov. 16.

Savvy shoppers who purchase an advance ticket for Wednesday's opening performance will receive an additional ticket of the same value for free. Ask for the discount when making your advance ticket purchase at the Oberlin College Central Ticket Service.

Associate Professor of Conducting Steven Smith, music director of the Oberlin Conservatory orchestras, conducts the lushly melodic score based on folk tunes. The Oberlin Choristers, under the direction of Katherine Plank, make a special appearance in the production, which is directed by Jonathon Field, associate professor of opera theater. The opera will be sung in German, with English supertitles and is sponsored by the Oberlin Opera Theater (www.oberlin.edu/operathe) and produced in cooperation with the Oberlin College Theater and Dance Program with support from the Louis C. Sudler Fund.
 
Synopsis and Director's Notes
Hansel and Gretel are home alone, working on a long list of chores. They are painfully hungry in their impoverished home, but like any children, they become distracted from their work and begin to play and tease one another. Their mother comes home and scolds them for their horseplay, sending them into the woods to pick strawberries for dinner. Her husband Peter comes home and is horrified that the children are alone in the woods - he has heard of an evil witch who bakes children into gingerbread. Peter and Gertrude rush off to find Hansel and Gretel. In the forest, Gretel weaves wreaths out of wild flowers as Hansel picks the last of the strawberries. They play together, imitating the sounds of the forest as they munch on the berries. Soon it is dark, and they realize that their basket is empty, and worse, they are lost. As night falls, the children are soothed by the Sandman and a host of gentle angels. They sing with the angels a familiar prayer of peace: "When at night I go to sleep, fourteen angels watch do keep..." The next morning, Hansel and Gretel awake to discover a fantastic cottage made of candy, with a fence made of gingerbread children. An old crone emerges from the house and attempts to lure the children in. When they resist, she casts a spell on them and locks Hansel in a cage. She summons Gretel to the oven, but the girl tricks her and pushes her in. The witch's spells are broken, and everyone rejoices, singing "When in direst need we stand, God will offer us His hand." (Information from Arizona Opera, www.azopera.com)

" Hansel und Gretel is intriguing because of the juxtapositions it presents," explains Field. "What is eternally captivating about fairy tales is the constant tension between good and evil, age and innocence, appearances and realities. This production reveals the real darkness and sinister twists in the story, but highlights the goodness that triumphs in the end."

Location and Ticket Information
Performances of Hansel and Gretel are at 8pm, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, November 12, 14, and 15, with a 2pm matinee on Sunday, November 16. Hall Auditorium is wheel chair accessible, parking is free and hearing enhancement is available upon request.

Tickets are $5 for all students, $8 for those with an Oberlin College I.D., senior citizens, and educators, and $12 for the general public. All tickets Are $3 more when purchased at the door. Tickets may be purchased from Central Ticket Service at 775-8169. CTS is located in the lobby of Hall Auditorium, and is open from noon to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, and Saturdays, November 8 & 15. Hall Auditorium is located at 67 N. Main St. on Rte. 58, between the Oberlin Inn and the Allen Art Museum.
 
Performers and Production Team
This production of Hansel und Gretel features Oberlin Conservatory students double cast in the principal roles. The principals alternate performances, with one cast appearing Wednesday and Saturday, and the other Friday and Sunday. The principal roles include Hansel (Sara Fanucchi '05, Kathryn Leemhuis '05); Gretel (Marie Masters '06, Adrianne Herman '04); the Sandman (Emily Goddard '04); the Dew Fairy (Colette Boudreaux '06); Gertrude, the mother (Megan Hart '05, Karen Jesse '04); Peter, the father (Michael Weyandt '05, Ferris Allen '04); and the Witch (Megan Hart '05, Karen Jesse '04). Singing in the ensemble are Meagan Brus '05, Amy Helfer '04, Heidi Wells '04, Robin Hok '04, and Kate Lerner '07.
 
The Oberlin production team of professional staff and students includes: Assistant Music Director Alan Montgomery; Assistant Director and Stage Manager Victoria Vaughan; Scenic Designer/Managing Director/Technical Director Michael Louis Grube, associate professor of theater; Costume Designer Chris Flaharty, associate professor of theater; Sound Engineer and Lighting Designer Jen Groseth, lecturer in theater; Props Manager Damen Mroczek, lecturer in theater; and Assistant Stage Managers Jodi Gage '05 and Marta Johnson '04.

Members of the Oberlin Choristers making an appearance as angels and gingerbread children include: Clay Barns, Nolan Barns, Isaiah Board, Miranda Burbridge, Lyndon Cayayan, Stephanie Luczkowski, Allie Miller, Karen Reynolds, Ann Marie Shrewsbury, Nora Stewart, and Ellis Woolfork.
 
Who's Who
Engelbert Humperdinck (Composer, 1854-1921) saw the greatest success of his career in Hansel und Gretel, though his repertoire includes later, more ambitious operas as well. His interest in music drama apparently sprang from the first opera he heard, Lortzing's Undine. The year he heard it, Humperdinck began work on two Singspiels, Perla and Claudine von Villa Bella, and on the music drama Harziperes. After excelling at the Cologne Conservatory, he continued his studies at the Munich Konigliche Musikschule in 1877. He began incorporating new influences into his music, which had long adhered to the Schumannesque traditions of his teachers. He developed a passion for Wagner's music, and went to Bayreuth to work with the composer. Ten years later, his sister requested that he set some folksongs for Hansel and Gretel. The simple project developed into Singspiel and finally opera, and the public's delight at the work celebrated the spontaneity and childlike wonder that shone through Humperdinck's music.
 
Steven Smith (Conductor) recently completed his tenure as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and music director of its Youth Orchestra. He the music director of the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus, and is Oberlin's associate professor of conducting and the music director of the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestras. Smith has guest conducted with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Houston, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Auckland, New Zealand. During the 2000-2001 season, he led the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Smith was associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony from 1996-1998, during which time he received the Conductor Career Development Grant and was named Foundation Artist by the Geraldine C. and Emory M. Ford Foundation. He has served as music director of the San Juan Symphony, assistant conductor of the Colorado Springs Symphony, and conductor of "Epicycle: an ensemble for new music." Also an active composer, Smith has been commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra, and his work has since been featured on National Public Radio and performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National and Columbus symphonies. Mr. Smith earned master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
 
Jonathon Field (Director) has directed over 90 productions and is becoming one of America's most sought-after stage directors. He has directed touring productions for the Lyric Opera of Chicago of Trouble in Tahiti, Gianni Schicchi, The Old Maid and the Thief, and The Spanish Hour. For San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theatre he directed La Cenerentola and Die Fledermaus and for Seattle Opera, an updated version of La Boheme. In San Francisco he has also directed Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov in the original Russian. He has directed 10 productions for the Arizona Opera, being deemed by the press "their most perceptive stage director." Since coming to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1997, he has directed Carmen, Slow Dusk, The Old Maid and the Thief, Romeo et Juliette, Cosi fan Tutte, Manon, Don Giovanni, Coyote Tales, La Cenerentola, Die Fledermaus, The Rake's Progress, The Bartered Bride, and Alcina. As artistic director of Lyric Opera Cleveland, Field directed the 2002 production of Don Giovanni, which was nominated for the Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement in classical music/opera. In the 2004 season Mr. Field will direct Cosi fan Tutte (opening July 28th), and artistic direct Little Women (opening June 16th).