How does Hansel and Gretel, a centuries-old German folk story about child abandonment and cannibalism, become a beloved Christmas classic? Well, for one thing, it made its debut as an opera on Dec. 23, 1893, in Christmas-crazy Frankfurt, which kind of helped.
“If I remember correctly,” says opera director Brenna Corner, “in many German opera houses, Hansel and Gretel is done every Christmas. It’s like going to The Nutcracker here,” she adds, laughing. “Hansel and Gretel is the equivalent of that in the operatic world.”
And, much like The Nutcracker, the story of Hansel and Gretel boasts its share of sweets, mischief, life lessons, and fairy-tale magic. But where many stagings of the classic Engelbert Humperdinck opera understandably run a bit grim, Vancouver Opera is celebrating its full holiday potential with Corner’s new production, running Nov. 24-Dec. 11 at the Vancouver Playhouse.
Not only has the youthful director teamed up with artists from the VO’s acclaimed Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists program (of which she herself was recently a grad) to help capture the wide-eyed spirit of the piece; they will be led by hot-shot 24-year-old Scottish conductor Alexander Prior, who was named conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra last month. The abridged score, by Russian composer Anatoly Korolyov, features new, reduced orchestration for the production’s unconventional 13-piece orchestra. (Who needs a harp when you have an electric guitar?) The libretto is also new, shortened for the family-friendly show and translated into English with surtitles, opening the opera-fan gates even wider.
Meanwhile, audiences can count on the musical standouts, like act two’s ethereal “Evening Prayer,” remaining untouched. But to reach Nutcracker levels of holiday satiation, Corner and co. felt their Hansel and Gretel still needed something a little special. So they recruited the master artisans of the celebrated Old Trout Puppet Workshop (a Calgary-based company known far and wide for masterpieces like Famous Puppet Death Scenes) to make the piece literally larger than life.
“The idea for the show is [that] all magical, non-human creatures are some version of a puppet,” says Corner. Which means everyone except the singers playing Hansel and Gretel (mezzo-soprano Pascale Spinney and soprano Taylor Pardell, respectively) will be in on the action. The animals our headstrong siblings meet on their fateful walk through the “Jungian” forest will be warped into colourful whirligigs and demented half-creatures. The hills will literally be alive with the sound of music, moving around in what Corner calls a “hill ballet”. The players carrying the vibrant two-dimensional set pieces will be wearing letters that spell out different things throughout the course of the show, making the experience akin to reading along with a pop-up book.
But the crowning glory of the show – the character none of us were allowed to see at rehearsal previews last week – is the witch. Played by tenor Ryan Downey, the only hint Corner would give is that the witch will be a truly menacing 10-foot-tall creature, with trained puppeteers helping Downey operate the unwieldy beast.
It’s all part of realizing Corner’s vision for her directorial debut. “It’s weird,” she declares, with a smile. “Like, let’s just get that straight out. It’s weird and it’s wonderful. And the music? Normally a 60-piece orchestra does this thing. We’re doing it with, what, 13? The music is gonna be weird! There’s an electric guitar. There’s a saxophone. It’s gonna be weird. And it’s going to be wonderful.
“We’re reimagining what the composer originally intended, and as we’re reimagining that, we’re also reimagining what’s visually happening. It’s like the whole piece is kind of getting shook,” she pauses,” and then reimagined.”
Hansel and Gretel runs Nov. 24-Dec. 11 at the Vancouver Playhouse. Tickets at VancouverOpera.ca.
