THE HOBBIT Returns to Sarasota Opera House

Sarasota Youth Opera is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by reprising its production of Canadian composer Dean Burry’s The Hobbit™. Burry wrote the music and the libretto for the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus in Toronto, which performed it in 2004.

Sarasota Youth Opera first presented The Hobbit™ (the American premiere) in 2008 and then again in 2014. The Covid pandemic precluded a 2020 production. Sarasota Opera had commissioned Burry to write the orchestrations, as the original was written for piano only.

This fantastical story, a prelude to Tolkien's classic, The Lord of The Rings, recounts how a comfort-loving hobbit, unwillingly dragged into a heroic quest, accidentally acquires the golden ring of power.

“One of the great things about Youth Opera is that it gives so many kids a chance to have a special moment,” said Martha Collins, Sarasota Opera’s director of education and stage director for this production. All 74 Youth Opera members will perform on stage.  

Right from the start, the cast has been rehearsing on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as all day Saturday. Collins said that once they are closer to the actual performance dates additional rehearsals are sometimes scheduled.

Collins has had a successful career as a professional opera singer and directs Sarasota Opera mainstage productions. But she relishes her work with her opera kids. “It's just so rewarding and touching to see these young performers who start out shy and then grow into someone who can command the stage,” she said.

Lead performers include Isabella Maltese as Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit; Luke Harnish (a Sarasota Opera resident artist) as Gandalf, the wizard and Smaug, the dragon; Giuliana Bordes as Thorin, leader of the dwarves; Finley MacBeth as Elrond, the elf-lord; Zane Hancock as Azog, the great goblin; Nikolina Supe as Amarlind, the elf maiden; and Ovid Rawlins as Thranduil, king of the wood elves.

To celebrate Youth Opera’s 40th anniversary, the company has been working to contact all alumni to invite them to a special reception. Any former Youth Opera member interested in attending should email youthopera@sarasotaopera.org.

The Hobbit™ will be performed on stage with orchestra at the Sarasota Opera House.

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