Theaterpalooza Children's Theatre Company will perform the Children's Opera, "Billy Bewitched" at Carnegie Hall on April 1, 2015 at 8pm as well as a special Leesburg, Virginia performance onMarch 28th.
It's Thursday night and that means opera rehearsal at the Theaterpalooza studio in Leesburg, Virginia.
Not your average opera, "Billy Bewitched" is a Children's Opera that is inspired by Maurice Ravel's "L'enfant et les Sortileges" and is written to be performed by children, for children.
This cast from Loudoun county are all singing opera for the first time, thanks to Theaterpalooza's efforts to incorporate the art form into its repertoire for children.
"We learned that Ravel is an Impressionist," said Beau Dolan, who is portraying Billy, "and we've been creating our own examples of Impressionistic music, which is neat."
According to the National Endowment for the Arts, the news for U.S. opera has been gloomy, with the closing of the New York City Opera and Baltimore Opera Company. Nationally just 2.1 percent of Americans saw an opera in 2012, down from 3.2 percent in 2002,
The future looks bleak when you consider that among those under the age of 25, just 1.8 percent saw an opera in 2012 compared to 3.3 percent for those aged 65-74.
It appears that opera has an image problem.
"At first I didn't want to do an opera," said a cast member, "but this production is different."
When asked the difference, she said, "Well, it's not stuffy and hard to understand."
"We see "Billy Bewitched" as a gateway opera; something to pique their interests and get them in the door. Once they're in, it's a whole world to explore," said Teri Walker, director.
In fact, "Billy Bewitched" was created as a performance work as well as a study tool for music educators to be used as an introduction to the world of opera, Ravel and the Impressionistic period.
The end game isn't necessarily an opera aficionado, but just an encouragement for people of all ages to enjoy the art form.
"A child today who enjoys opera is more likely to bring their own children to an opera in the future. We believe that opera is fabulous and fun and that the best way to build the audience for the future is to include the children of today."
About Theaterpalooza
Theaterpalooza is an arts educational organization for children all ages which seeks to elevate arts education in the form of classes, workshops, productions and tours.
Since 1997, Theaterpalooza has been offering classes, workshops and productions from New York to Florida.
This is Theaterpalooza's second performance at Carnegie Hall; the first being "From Sea To Shining Sea" March of 2014; a history of Appalachia told by the immigrants of Ulster.
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