Dates and Times:
Friday, October 21, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. (in English)
Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. (in German with surtitles)
Sunday, October 23, 2005 at 2 p.m. (in English)

Single Tickets:
$10, 15, 20, 30, 35 (discounts available for seniors, youth, and groups)
Tickets are on sale at the CU Concerts Box Office by calling 303-492-8008 until Friday, October 21 at 4 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door starting one hour before each performance.

Season Ticket Packages:
This concert is part of the CU Opera season ticket package.

Location:
Macky Auditorium

Running Time:
Three hours

Event Overview:
Kids will love the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel and the gingerbread house, and adults won't be disappointed by the beautiful melodies and CU Opera's artistic quality. Shows will be performed in the original German and in English, you decide which you prefer. Join us for a special family performance on Sunday afternoon ... bring your camera to take pictures of your children with Hansel and Gretel!

Synopsis:
Once upon a time, a poor broom-maker and his wife lived in a lonely cottage in the Harz Mountains of Germany with their two children, Hansel and Gretel.  The father (Peter) is off selling his brooms, and mother (Gertrude) is out trying to scavenge food.  The children are finding that work is tiresome, especially when dreaming of unattainable goodies.  They join in a raucous dance, interrupted by the arrival of their frustrated mother.  She sends them out to the forest to pick berries, and falls into an exhausted sleep.  Presently a jolly, tipsy father returns, having sold his brooms at a good profit.  He presents his wife with a basket of solidly good food, then notices that the children aren't making their usual uproar.  When Gertrude confesses where she has sent them, the horrified Peter relates the legend of the “Gobbling Witch-Wife” who lures small children to her lair, bakes them into enchanted gingerbread, and eats them at her leisure.  The two parents rush off in anxious pursuit.

The Witch is on the prowl, and day turns to night.  Hansel and Gretel have filled their basket with strawberries, but they squander these in a “cuckoo” game.  As shadows grow longer and darker, the old beliefs in spirits and demons surface.  The sounds of the evening heighten this mood of dread; the wind whispers and moans uncannily, and shadowy bus and hollow take on strange and fearful shapes.  Indeed, a messenger from this “parallel universe” comes to them: the Sandman, who sprinkles his dust over them, wishing them sweet dreams.  The youngsters retreat to the hollow of an ancient tree and offer a prayer for fourteen guardian angels to watch over their slumber.  Curled up together, they fall asleep, and a vision of the wished-for heavenly company enters their dreams.

The Dew Fairy announces daybreak, and Hansel and Gretel realize that they had identical dreams.  The stage is miraculously transformed, and they stand before a tantalizing little house made of cake and candy, complete with gingerbread fence.  They break off one tasty morsel after another, whereupon the “lady of the house” appears.  (This is the Witch, whose true love of children is limited to their alchemical transformation into gingerbread.)  The hag shuts Hansel in a cage, feeds him sweets to fatten him, then tries to entice Gretel to bend into the oven.  Gretel pretends not to understand, and when the Witch demonstrates the maneuver, Gretel shoves her in, slams the door, and dances joyously about with the liberated Hansel.  Gretel uses the Witch’s wand to work some positive magic: the oven and house explode violently, and all the gingerbread children are returned to their original state.  These lucky boys and girls bless Hansel and Gretel for their deliverance, just as Peter and Gertrude trudge in.  The opera ends with a song of shared praise and thanksgiving.

Cast:
October 21 & 23 (October 22)
Gretel - Katherine Miller (Sara Gartland)
Hansel - Erin Lippard (Rena Pyland)
Gertrude, their mother - Gina Harvey (Lynell Holznagel)
Peter, their father - Erik Angerhofer (Sang-Jun Yoon)
Sandman - Amber Stachitus (Marianne Ciasulli)
Dew Fairy - Claire Myers (Kim Neely)
The Witch - Adam Sattley (Sara Conway)

Production Personnel:
Nicholas Carthy, Conductor
William Gustafson, Stage Director
Peter Dean Beck, Set and Lighting Designer
Tom Robbins, Costumer
Ron Mueller, Technical Director

Audio:
Listen to music from Hansel and Gretel at amazon.com:
• Hansel and Gretel