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CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE DIRECTORY/BULLETIN Volume 24, Number 4 Sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council Central Opera Service • Lincoln Center • Metropolitan Opera • New York, NY. 10023 • (212) 799-3467 (212) 799-3467 DIRECTORY Of OPERAS/MUSICALS for YOUNG AUDIENCES FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL Performed by Children and/or Adults With Review Excerpts and Comments from Producers, Composers, and Publishers This publication was made possible in part through a most generous bequest from Mrs. August Belmont. We think this to be a most fitting memorial to her love of children, her love of opera, and her constant faith in and support of Central Opera Service. CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE COMMITTEE Founder MRS. AUGUST BELMONT (1879-1979) Honorary National Chairman ROBERT L.B. TOBIN National Chairman MRS. MARGO H. BINDHARDT National Vice Chairman MRS. MARY H. DARRELL This DIRECTORY OF OPERAS/MUSICALS FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES is the latest in the series of COS Directories. These form part of the COS Bulletin, which is a quarterly publication. Regular news issues contain information on such topics as news from opera companies, including new companies, government and national arts organizations, new operas and premieres, opera in academia, new editions and adaptations, new and renovated theaters, book reviews, announcements of competition winners, etc. An extensive performance listing mentioning opera and musical theater productions by all opera companies, academic workshops, and non- profit theaters closes each issue. Subscription is by membership. Central Opera Service Bulletin Vol. 24, No. 4 1984 Directory Editor: MARIA F. RICH Assistant Editor: JEANNE HANIFEE KEMP Editorial Assistants: CHERYL KEMPLER FRITZI BICKHARDT NORMA LITTON The COS Bulletin is published quarterly for its members by Central Opera Service. Permission to quote is not necessary but kindly note source. Please send any news items suitable for mention in the COS Bulletin as well as performance information to The Editor, Central Opera Service Bulletin, Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, New York, NY 10023. Copies this issue: $12.00 Regular News Issues: $3.00 ISSN 0008-9508 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction v Key to Abbreviations viii Operas/Musicals for Young People 1 List of Publishers 174 Standard Operas for Young People 176 Index by Subject 179 Title Index 186 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As the researcher and compiler of this volume, I wish to thank a host of helpers too numerous to mention by name. The staffs of ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, who gave us information on their membership. The staffs of publishers, particularly Belwin Mills, Boosey & Hawkes, European American Music Distributors, Carl Fisher, Music Theatre International, Samuel French, Theodore Presser, and G. Schirmer, who repeatedly searched their records for casting, orchestration, and copyright dates. Emily Hammood, of Opera for Youth, provided endless lists of works and opinions on works from members of her organization. The former and current staff of the American Music Center cheerfully allowed us access to their files and records and faithfully answered our telephoned queries. Opera America extended its continuous and enthusiastic support of this project, as did the Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department. As for the COS staff and volunteers whose names appear on the masthead — endless proofreading, searching of files, proofreading, research in books, proofreading, phone calls to publishers, and more proofreading. And a special word for Maria F. Rich, without whose eye for detail and instinct for information this volume would not have been complete. Bless you all. Jeanne H. Kemp -iv- INTRODUCTION Now that opera is firmly established in the American cultural scene, the need to bring this most fascinating of all the performing arts to the young people - to educate while entertaining them and broadening their horizons - has assumed ever-wider importance. Calls for effective and appropriate operas and music theatre pieces have multiplied dramatically in recent years. The first Children's Opera Directory, a modest 35 pages published by COS in 1973, has become quite inadequate. Inquiries come from a great variety of sources with just as great a variety of requirements. The one common denominator appears to be the assumption that there is a lack of suitable material. With this current volume, which encompasses a total of 1,597 English language works, all with available performance material and almost all with one or more performances, we hope to put to rest forever this erroneous belief. Subject matter abounds and there seem to be operas on any topic — health care from dental to stopping smoking, historical figures from Washington and Lincoln to Einstein and Edison, works about mythical figures, about medieval heros, science fiction robots, baseball and boxing. There are musical recreations of American and European historical events, regional settings, others based on Japanese Noh dramas, Chinese and Hawaiian legends, ghost stories and magic tricks, expectant fathers and divorce. There are operas written for the visually and the emotionally handicapped, operas based on ecology, operas based on Darwin's theory of evolution. Recognizing the need for not simply a listing of available works, COS aims in this guide to address and assist through a variety of means in the identification of works for the different users and different uses. In compiling the material, consideration was given to groups from the professional opera companies' educational touring divisions all the way to the grade school or kindergarten teacher, and their equally wide range of requirements as to a) performers (professionally trained singers to kindergarten children), b) the presence or absence of technical facilities in the performance spaces, and c) the purpose, thrust, and/or context in which the opera is to be performed. Clearly, all these factors, plus performance time, size of cast and orchestration, and subject matter, will be determining factors in the selection of a work. In addition to supplying all the above basic information, we have, for the first time, added explanatory and helpful statements under PRODUCTION PROBLEMS and COMMENTS, quoting from producers, performers, com- posers or librettist, publishers, and critical reviews. These, together with all other information, should facilitate the selection process. One more source for consultation in making a choise is the index by subject matter, which will guide a teacher in coordinating an opera with topics, taught in other subjects, e.g. American or foreign history, regional or seasonal events, literature, mythology, etc. Finally, the ALSO PFD. BY listings offer the producer the opportunity to contact and consult with directors who recently performed the work. Beginning in 1983, Central Opera Service distributed questionnaires to all performing organizations and all composers' societies requesting infor- -v- mation on works suitable for performance for or by children. In addition, we researched the holdings of various archives and libraries for more information. The sheer number of questionnaires returned to us was staggering. But this volume was not meant to be a compendium of every musical work ever written for children or suitable for perfomance for them. Rather, it is intended to provide the producer or the teacher with a listing of available works written for touring, for educational/outreach programs, or for production by a class or by a school. Thus, we determined some cut-off was necessary. Our prime criterion for inclusion of a work was its availability. Then, due to the large number of contemporary works (fully 75% of these listings were written after 1970) we chose 1920 as a cut-off date for entries. Conversely, the standard Broadway musicals, certainly accessible and even child-oriented, such as "Peter Pan" and "Annie", do not appear in these pages. It simply became impossible to draw a line — as with standard operas, a great number of musicals can be enjoyed and appreciated by children. Because of the wealth of original, contemporary operas directed towards children, very few adaptations of standard operas are listed. The exceptions include several versions of "Hansel and Gretel", some Gilbert and Sullivan condensations, and a few adaptations whose reviews indicated a complete re-structuring of the work for a specific age group. Unless our records showed evidence of a staged production, works for narrator and orchestra, such as "Peter and the Wolf" and Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra", were not included. Several "class developed" works are included. These are just a sampling of the results of a new trend whereby professionals assist grade-school students in creating and producing their own operas. Students from several classes decide the subject, write the text and music, and devise whatever sets, costumes, and props are necessary for their performance. The Education Department of the Metropolitan Opera Guild has been a catalyst of some of the most imaginative and successful of these endeavors. The entries are self-explanatory (see Key for abbreviations) but some points need be made. The order is alphabetical by composer, but an index is included by title; the names of the composer, librettist, and, in some cases, author of the musical's book appear in the left column. The center column lists the title(s) in bold; below it the type or category of work, the audiences' grade level, and the performers' age grouping; the source of the original material, followed by the premiere company, place, and date. If this information was not available, the date of composition or of copyright appears in parentheses. Please note that in some cases of published items for sale, no performances are listed. This does not mean the work has never been performed. Publishers do not keep records of items sold and performance statistics for grade schools are not available. Most entries end with COMMENTS, statements from producers or com- posers, extracts from reviews, or a short description of the story if such is not apparent from the title or original source. These comments have been made as clear as possible, despite being both condensed and, in general, favorable.