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Publication Date
3-9-2006
Year of Release
2006
Note(s)
March 9-12, 2006
Linda Dobbs, director
CAST
Thursday/Saturday
Hӓnsel - Katherine Green
Gretel - Mandy Bohm
Mother - Michele Imes
Father - Theodore Rose
Sandman - Danielle Stephens
Dew Fairy - Marlayna Maynard
Witch - Adam Stephenson
Friday/Sunday
Hӓnsel - Victoria Landgrave
Gretel - Kristen Pino
Mother - Marlayna Maynard
Father - Michael Sidoti
Sandman - Brenna Pyne
Dew Fairy - Burcu Korkmaz
Witch - Mitchell Spurlock
Children's Chorus (Both Casts)
Brittany Baldwin, Amanda Callicoat, Kamryn Campbell, Maria Caputo-Streit, Madison Cogar, Emily Duncan, Madelyn Duncan, Rachel Enders, Hannah Kirby, Brynne Kyle, Josefine Landgrave, Sarah Metz, Sidney Pay, Elizabeth Schmitz, Emily Spangler, Cadyn Turley, Elle Willmoth
Dancers (Both Casts)
Choreographer: Ella Hay, The Art Center School of Dance
Rachel Clark, Molly Daniel, Dominique Elmore, Molly Roush, Nicole Imhoff, Candace Imperi, Casper Yuan Rong Jiaa, Amy Klim, Jennee Marinacci, Lexi Smith, Alicia Smolder, Candice Steele, Diana Ventura, Katie Wright
Technical Staff
Scenic Design - Jamez Morris-Smith
Asst. Scenic Design/Scene Shop Foreman/Technical Director - Deborah Carder-Deem
Costume Design - Joan St. Germain
Lighting Design - Lang Reynolds
Audio Technician/Asst. Lighting Design - Kevin Bannon
Department of Music Staff - Ruby Dean, Beverly McKinney
Theatre Department Staff -Helen Majdalany
Box Office Manager - Sam Kincaid
Children's Choir Chaperones - Brianna Phares, Brenna Pyne, Danielle Stephens, Leeah Weber
Costume Design Assistant - Kim Buetzow
Wardrobe Mistress - Katherine Mohn
Light Board Operator - Nathan Amos
Sound Board Operator - Kevin Bannon
Follow spot I - Erin Matrin
Follow spot II - Will Styer
Videographer - Jamie Sams
Set Construction/Painting Crew
Mark Cohn, Shannon Gobel, Abby Holmes, Steve Horton, Ola Kraszpulska, Justin Linville, Rebecca Murphy, Jeremy Plyburn, Matthew Pritt, Aaron Southern, Brady Vannest, Sara Vorac, Sean Watkins, Nikki Winter, Fred Workman
Deck/Props Crew
Mark Cohn, Steve Horton, Justin Linville, Matthew Murphy, Blake Racer, Christina Riley, Glenn Spencer, Nikki Winter
Wardrobe Crew
Samantha Elkins, Amy Holliday, Katia Loggins, Michael Niday, Jamie Sams, Ashli Spinks
Costume Construction Crew
Heather Adkins, Melanie Baldwin, Kim Buetzow, Jessica Bethel, Erika Courtney, Patricia Eckert, Kristin Gandee, Amy Harper, Deanna Holderby, Callie Huff, Jared James, Jessica Lindstrom, Justin Linville, Katia Loggins, Will Marsh, Meredith McCoy, Rebecca Murphy, Michael Niday, Rachel Noe, Cara Perry, Jonathan Phillips, Blake Racer, Jonathan Richards, Jennifer Scott, Rachel Stefursky, Adam Terry
Lighting Crew
Nathan Amos, Travis Caffrey, Trevyn Cunningham, Darin Ellis, Morgan Garrett, Shay Hannon, Robin Helton, Erin Martin, Katherine Mohn, Adam Paul, Ammie Phipps, Jamie Sams, Will Styer, Leah Turley, Donta Wade
Box Office Staff
Sam Kincaid, Manager
Karah Markins
Acknowledgements
Department of Music Faculty and Staff
Cabell County Board of Education
Woman's Club of Huntington
Dr. Vicki Stroeher
Erika Lawson
Marshall University College of Fine Arts
Donald Van Horn, Dean
Michael Cornfeld, Associate Dean
Peggy Egnatoff, Administrative Assistant
Marshall University Orchestra
Dr. Sölen Dikener, director
Susan Cook, Minna Aminzadeh, Philip Pham, Emily Cecil, Larry Harbrecht, Melody Cook, Abby Holmes, Reed Smith, Erin Lawson, violin I
Janet Bromley, Erika Lawson, Korey Jividen, Sercan Anear, Isaac Sheet, Scott King, Hannah Burbery, violin 2
Dilek Engin, Lucia Soltis, Jame Mccumbee, viola
Öhge Ileri, Jamie Dzierzak, Tonya Burdine, Sesil Dikener, cello
Rebecca Murphy, bass
Callie Huff, flute
Laura Johnson, oboe
Emrah Ozturk, Trina Smith, clarinet
Meredith McCoy, bassoon
Justin Near, KaCee Booth, horn
Joshua Richardson, Matthew Chaffins, trumpet
David Shriver, trombone
Andrew Tilley, Levi Billiter, percussion
David Patrick, keyboard
The woods - A witch - A brother and sister - A spell of enchantment - All are the stuff of Hansel and Gretel, and all are part of the story behind the story of Englebert Humperdinck's Mӓrchenoper (fairy-tale opera), Hӓnsel and Gretel.
Program Notes
Our tale properly begins at the height of German Romanticism, a 19th-century aesthetic that shaped music, art and literature with its attention to the supernatural, nature, emotion, and the past. Proponents of the movement thought its proper expression was found in the arts of the common people of the nation: folk tales, folk songs, and dances, which by their simplicity were filled with profound expression. Humperdinck was born in 1854, just as these German nationalist tendencies were taking root. When at the age of fourteen he heard Albert Lortzing's opera Undine, based upon a legend firmly established as German folklore, Humperdinck threw himself into composing with all the passion of a neophyte. Despite his father's wishes that he turn himself to more serious pursuits, Humperdinck entered the Cologne Conservatory in 1827 to study music. His success was immediate, for his compositions were awarded prize after prize.
In 1877 Humperdinck moved to Munich to enroll in the Royal Music Academy, which afforded him many new opportunities. One such opportunity presented itself in 1878, when the Munich opera house put on a production of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. Humperdinck fell so far under the spell of it that he joined the local Wagner society, the Order of the Grail, and began exploring Wagner's highly chromatic compositional style. In 1880, he finally met his idol, who in turn was so impressed that he invited the malleable musician to Bayreuth to assist a production of his Parsifal. Humperdinck's friends were more than dismayed and attempted to dissuade him from associating with Wagner, fearful that he would lose his originality. By contrast, Humperdinck was so enchanted he intimated that he would gladly acquiesce any originality for the ability to compose like Wagner. In the end, he would be so intimidated by the legendary Wagner that he would cease composing altogether, turning his attention to teaching, first in Cologne, then in Frankfurt.
When in 1890 his sister, Adelheid Wette, approached him with a private project - composing folk-like songs for her play for her own children based upon the Grimm Brothers fairy tale Hansel and Gretel - Humperdinck agreed to do so. The simplicity and naiveté of the folksong style both suited his sensibilities and kept the spectre of Wagner somewhat at bay. Gradually, and at the urging of the family, the project grew: from incidental music to Singspiel (a sung play with spoken dialogue) to the full-blown opera that we hear today.
The opera's premiere took place on December 23rd, 1893 in Weimar (the opera is now a Christmas favorite worldwide) and was wildly successful, spawning some 72 subsequent performances over the next twelve months and proving that this Mӓrchenoper was not for children only. Premieres in London and New York also met with tremendous success, thus forever sealing the opera's place as one of the most beloved in the repertoire.
Humperdinck's music for the opera belies its German Romantic and nationalistic roots as we hear folksongs (both real and invented) and the ever-present influence of Wagner. Although it was criticized for a certain heaviness in its Wagnerian orchestration, it was lauded for its attention to the melodic spontaneity and simplicity of its folksong style that paints the picture of the tale as it unfolds. Humperdinck captures all the hallmarks of Romanticism: emotional depth heard in the children's evening prayer, the seduction of evil and the supernatural heard in the witch's broom ride, and finally, the triumph of goodness and love over that evil, heralded throughout by the folksong and confirmed m the joyous waltz. All the while, Humperdinck maintains a naiveté and simplicity that befits the children's point of view and evokes the charming programmaticism of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream.
Just as Gretel's cunning and quick thinking saved Hansel from the wicked witch, so Adelheid's creativity rescued Englebert from his reluctance to write music in the shadow of Wagner. The spell of Wagner was nearly broken - solved rather - by the simple folksong with which to tell the tale. Unfortunately, unlike in most fairy tales, our protagonist Humperdinck does not meet with the brightest possible future. He would write many more operas, but could never quite equal the success of Hӓnsel and Gretel. His Königskinder of 1910 came closest, but was faulted for its poor quality text. Fortunately for us, Humperdinck found his compositional voice with the opera that we'll hear today, and gave us his best: a most enchanting work that clearly holds a spell over its audiences.
Program notes by Dr. Vicki Stroeher
Linda Dobb (Director - MU Opera Theatre), joined the Marshall University Department of Music faculty in 1982 and now holds the rank of Professor of Music. She has performed in opera and musical theatre and has appeared as guest soloist with orchestra, choral ensembles and in recital. Among many productions she has mounted at Marshall University are Lewis and Clark: Corps of Discovery, Trouble in Tahiti, Susannah, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, The Tenderland, and The Mikado.
She is founder and director of Marshall University's Opera for Youth program that provides pre-professional training for university singer while introducing school children to opera. Under her direction, Huntington area children also have participated in main stage opera productions such as Noyes' Fludde and Amahl and the Night Visitors. With colleague Albert Zabel she is co-author of the children's opera The Fiddler's Ghost, published by MMB Music. Dobbs recently received the Distinguished Service Award from Marshall University for her work with university students and with MU Opera Theatre.
She also performs with the Celtic band Blackbirds and Thrushes and, with her husband Wendell Dobbs, can be heard on the band's two CD's, New Heights and Calamity Nights and the recently released CD of music from the era of John Marshall Rallying Round Our Liberty.
Production Staff
Producers - Lang Reynolds, Dr. Marshall Onofrio
Director - Linda Dobbs
Conductor - Dr. David Castleberry, Dr. Sölen Dikener
Children's Choir Director - Timothy Hontz
Rehearsal Accompanist - Yesim Dikener, Michelle Hontz
Choreographer - Ella Hay, The Art Center School of Dance
Stage Manager - Kim Buetzow
Assistant Stage Manager - Natasha Beverly
Children's Choir Assistant - Joanna Bokovitz
Assistant to the Director - Brianna Phares
Cast Biographies
Mandy Mobley Bohm (Gretel), is a member of the adjunct voice faculty at Marshall University. She has earned a Bachelor's degree in music business and a Master's degree in voice performance. She sang the role of Musetta in La Bohème, and has competed in the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions.
Kristen Pino (Gretel) is a first year B.F.A. voice performance student. A native of Steubenville, OH, she earned the B.S. degree in Marine Science/Biology from Coastal Carolina University. She has appeared in La Bohème, Nunsense (Sr. Amnesia), Into the Woods (Witch), and Once Upon A Mattress (Fred).
Victoria Landgrave (Hansel) is a junior B.A. music education major. Born in Germany, but now a Huntington resident, Landgrave has performed in several area musical theatre productions, including Footloose (Ariel Moore) and Oklahoma (Aunt Eller). Last year, Landgrave performed in MU Opera's production of Trouble in Tahiti.
Katherine Green (Hansel) will graduate from MU this spring with a Masters in voice performance and choral conducting. She earned a Bachelor's degree in voice performance from Oklahoma City University and a Bachelor's in music education from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She has sung the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro and Lucy in The Telephone, among others. In 2000, she performed in the Miss America Scholarship Program representing Minnesota and is a Regional NATS Solo Winner. Green is the Choral Director and General Music Teacher at Ceredo-Kenova Middle School.
Marlayna Maynard (Mother, Dew Fairy) holds a B.A. in music education from Marshall University and has performed several roles including Miss Silverpeal in The Impresario. During Opera in the Ozarks' 2004 season, Maynard sang in the American premiere of Rautavaara's House of the Sun. Originally from Dunlow, WV, she plans to start a Masters degree in voice performance this fall.
Michele Imes (Mother) recently returned to Ohio from the Washington, DC area, where she sang with The Washington National Opera and The Baltimore Opera Company. Ms. Imes' repertoire includes nearly 30 operatic and musical theatre roles, as well as concert and recital work. She earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in voice performance from Miami University and a Master of Music Degree in voice from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of Johns Hopkins University.
Michael Sidoti (Father) is a freshman B.F.A. voice performance major at Marshall University. Sidoti relocated in 2005 from New York City, and enjoys singing with volunteer, semi-professional, and professional choral groups. He aspires to return to New York and pursue a career as a professional opera singer.
Ted Rose (Father) is a junior B.FA. composition major who also studies voice. He earned the B.S. in Chemical Engineering from W.V.U.I.T. and currently lives in Huntington. He has played Ambrose Kemper in Hello, Dolly!, Ahvrahm/bottle dancer in Fiddler on the Roof, Jinx in Forever Plaid, Eugene/Teen Angel in Grease!, and was in the MU Opera Theatre production of Corps of Discovery.
Brenna Pyne (Sandman) is a freshman B.F.A. voice performance major at Marshall University. Pyne is a native of Lindside, WV, and plans to pursue a Masters degree in arts management. This is her first stage role.
Danielle Stephens (Sandman) is a sophomore B.A. music education major from Huntington, WV. At Huntington High School, she played Laurie in Oklahoma. She plans to teach vocal/choral music.
Burcu Korkmaz (Dew Fairy) is a native of Turkey. She earned the Bachelor of Music degree at Uludag University. In 2003, while studying with Mirella Freni, she performed several concerts throughout Italy. Upon conclusion of the LEAP program at Marshall University, she will enter the M.A. voice performance program at MU.
Adam Stephenson (Witch) is a freshman B.F.A. performance major from Roann, Indiana. He intends to pursue graduate study in voice. A veteran of several productions in Indiana, this is his first role at MU.
Mitchell Spurlock (Witch) is a sophomore B.F.A. voice performance major at MU. Last year, he performed in the MU Opera Theatre productions of Beau Nash (Beau Nash) and The Impresario (Mr. Angel). He intends to pursue graduate study in musicology.
Marshall University Choral/Vocal Faculty
Linda Dobbs, Professor
David Castleberry, Professor
Susan Onofrio, Assistant Professor
Larry Stickler, Professor
Mandy Bohm, Adjunct Professor
Marshall University Theatre Faculty/Staff
Eugene Anthony, Jack Cirillo, Joan St. Germain, Associate Professor
Kevin Bannon, Production Assistant
Deb Carder-Deem, Shop Foremant
David Cook, Kerri Easter-O'Feldt, Adjunt Faculty
Samuel Kincaid, Project Coordinatior
Helen Majdalany, Program Assistant
Jamez Morris-Smith, Director of Theater Facilities
Mike Murphy, Professor/Technical Director
Lang Reynolds, Professor/Chair
Note
Joan C. Edwards Playhouse
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Fine Arts | Music | Music Performance
Recommended Citation
Dobbs, Linda, "Marshall University Music Department and Theatre and MU Opera Theatre 2006 presents Hansel & Gretel, An Opera in English by E. Humperdinck" (2006). All Performances. 900.
https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/900
