By Donald Liebenson
At one point in A Night at the Opera, Otis B. Driftwood, the slippery business manager portrayed by Groucho Marx, arrives at an opera house. “Is the opera over yet?” he asks a door attendant. When informed a few minutes remain in the opera, he becomes indignant. “Hey, you,” he chastises the hansom cab driver, “I told you to slow that nag down. On account of you, I nearly heard the opera. Now, once around the park and drive slowly.”
Many children (and some adults, for that matter) have this same dismissive attitude toward opera. Opera for the Young (OFTY) is dedicated to changing that, and they’re not kidding around.
For just over 50 years, the Madison-based nonprofit has taken their act on the road to schools—upwards of 180 “in a good year,” says managing director Saira Frank—to change hearts, minds, and ears. They are returning to Ravinia’s Martin Theatre for the first time in three years.
Vincent Fuh
Based on her 15 years with OFTY, seven of which were spent as a performer, Frank does not buy into the stereotype that kids are predisposed to not liking opera. “Not to be contrary, but I find young children are so open to it,” she says. “One of the things I love about Opera for the Young that has kept me with this company is the way students accept our shows and enjoy them. It’s so important for me to see how truly open to the arts most young people are.”
“Once you get to sixth graders, it can be tricky,” she acknowledges with a laugh.
Introducing young people to opera recalls the nature-vs.-nurture debate, a recurring theme in Three Stooges shorts in which the three knuckleheads were always unsuccessfully groomed for high society. Speaking for myself, growing up, I was steeped in opera and classical music. I just didn’t know it.
There’s a good chance that the first “operas” I ever heard were the melodrama parodies in Mighty Mouse cartoons. I recognize Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” as the song Tom performs in the Oscar-winning Tom & Jerry cartoon Cat Concerto. (Or, as Bugs Bunny says in the 1946 cartoon Rhapsody Rabbit: “Franz Liszt? Never heard of him.”) And if you, like me, are of a certain age, then admit it: When you hear “Ride of the Valkyries” from Wagner’s Die Walküre, you are moved to sing the words “Kill the wabbit” from Chuck Jones’s 1957 masterpiece What’s Opera, Doc?
OFTY productions may not be cartoons, but they are animated. For their Martin Theatre engagement, they will perform an abridged, kid-friendly adaptation of Gioachino Rossini’s 1816 opera The Barber of Seville with that familiar “Figaro” aria. (For me, “Figaro” is less an aria than it is an hilarious nuisance song caterwauled by alley car Sylvester that keeps Elmer Fudd awake in the 1948 cartoon Back Alley Oproar, which brings to mind that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine chastises Jerry, “It’s so sad that all your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons.”)
The OFTY version, written (as are all their shows) by artistic director Diane Garton Edie, transposes the story to the 1950s, complete with a slicked-back Figaro, a poodle skirt–wearing Rosina and plenty of jive talking.
The company’s engagement imperative goes beyond putting on shows for young audiences to watch. As with their school shows, OFTY has recruited local students to perform with them. The OFTY Barber will feature students from Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play programs in roles ranging from students at Seville High to a confused music teacher.
Student involvement is the key, Frank says. “It makes the experience more than just a one-off where they experience a performance and we leave. Seeing their peers perform with professional singers leaves a lasting impression.”
OFTY has introduced more than 2.5 million children to opera in live performance. Some young audience members were inspired to pursue professional careers in opera, among them, Jeni Houser, who has performed with the New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Los Angeles and Dallas Opera companies.
“She saw us when she was in elementary school and it spoke to her,” Frank says. “Whether it was the ultimate spark or one of the many sparks that led them toward classical music and opera, it was a positive spark that opera could be accessible and fun.”
And not just for children. “Some parents are surprised to see opera that is so accessible,” Frank says. “Often, they’ll recognize a familiar melody and tell us they’ve heard that song their whole life. We’ve had a few shows where parents approach cast members and tell them they wish they had had a program like this when they were kids.”
Frank, herself, came to OFTY as a freelance opera singer. She was an ensemble member for seven tours before joining the administration team. She discovered opera as a teenager, when she, along with her high school honor choir, were invited to attend Waukesha, WI–based Carroll University’s summer opera program. “I thought it was wonderful,” she says. “It fit me and my voice. I loved the acting. It seemed like the perfect combination of my strengths.”
As a student at Northwestern, she and her friends took full advantage of a program the Lyric Opera offered college students. “You could get a season pass for next to nothing,” she says. “We used to go to every show. I quickly became versed in opera.”
Unlike films and TV shows with their spoiler alerts, Frank recommends that parents put in the time to prepare prior to attending an opera. “Tell children the story and familiarize them with the music,” she says, “so when they are taking it all in, they can focus on what is happening onstage. It will make it more enchanting for them.”
Chicago-based flutist Rena Urso got a backstage education in classical music growing up. She hails from a musical family. Her father, Santo Urso, was one of the Assistant Concertmasters of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. (He was also a session musician for Motown on such classics as The Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”).
“It was our normal,” she says.
Urso had a flipped experience from those who were introduced to classical music through cartoons. While cartoons helped me to appreciate the music, she says that it was the music that helped her appreciate the cartoons. She got the musical references and jokes (Should you meet her, she does a dandy rendition of Bugs Bunny’s “aria” from the cartoon, The Rabbit of Seville: “Welcome to my shop. / Lemme cut yer mop, / Lemme shave yer crop, / Daintily, daintily.”)
Urso has performed with the San Francisco and New York opera companies. “As long as I can remember, even though I grew up the daughter of a symphony orchestra musician, my dream job has been to play flute in an opera orchestra,” she says. “I could play opera until the cows came home. I like being in the pit where I can be part of something that’s telling the story. I once toured with Madame Butterfly for three months. I knew how it was going to end, but every night, I was in the pit crying my eyes out.”
What operas might parents have the best luck in engaging their children? Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (no, not that one) is a familiar fairy tale, and the music is accessibly appealing. Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance is in English, very funny, and may be familiar from the classic parodies on Family Guy and The Simpsons. Menotti’s The Telephone is also in English and is a breezy one-act (you have to work up to those three-hour-plus run times).
But Frank has but one recommendation for any parent who wants to introduce their children to opera and classical music. “Step one is to just do it,” she says. “Don’t be afraid that they won’t understand or relate to it. Put some music on and see if they like it.”