Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

The old fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel will come alive on stage as never before, in a production of Opera San Antonio that will also include all the other Tobin Center’s resident companies.  OSA artistic director, E. Loren Meeker, is the stage director of the massive show.

“We are constantly looking for new ways to continue to make access to the arts part of our vision for San Antonio, and so all shows for this whole season will be family-friendly and performed in English,“ she said in a Zoom interview recently. “So, accessibility is the main reason we chose to open our season with this opera. “As you know, a lot of operas are very dramatic, intense and a lot of characters die,” she added. “Coming out of COVID, we were looking at lighter, family-friendly repertoire. And we are inviting
close to three thousand students, teachers and veterans to see the show. I think this is going to help communities in San Antonio to be exposed to the awesomeness of opera.”

To begin with, most people are familiar with the title and story, which originated in Germany centuries ago and has survived many versions and modifications. The tale was turned into opera by composer Engelbert Humperdinck in 1892. His sister, Adelheid Wette, wrote the libretto.

At the center of the story are a brother and sister from a poor family who are often going hungry. The siblings get lost in the woods where they stumble upon a candy house and a witch. They outwit the witch, eat a chunk of the candy house and return home safely.

“The story teaches us about family relationships; it teaches us how to survive and rely on each other in really difficult times,” said Meeker. “When extreme obstacles come in our way, there are ways to overcome them if we rely on each other.”

The two title roles will be sung by Meechot Marrero as Gretel and Emily Fons as Hansel. (It is not unusual in opera for a woman to portray a boy.) Katherine Geoldner will be the witch, Deborah Nansteel will play the mother and Levi Hernandez will sing the father’s part. Marrero, Fons and Nansteel will be reprising the roles they have performed all over the country, most recently with the New Orleans Opera, a year ago. That production was also directed by Meeker. The composer also included a children’s choir in this opera, “a role” comfortably performed by the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio.

But what is unique about this production is that Meeker invited other companies to collaborate with OSA, in addition to the Children’s Chorus. Those include Ballet San Antonio, YOSA (Youth Orchestras of San Antonio), and the Classical Music Institute, which is in charge of the orchestra that will be conducted by OSA’s music director Francesco Milioto. This is the first such collaboration in Tobin Center’s history. All were delighted to pitch in, as was the Tobin Center.

“…This collaboration of the best of the best arts in San Antonio coming together to benefit the community is what the Tobin is all about,” wrote Mike Fresher, the Tobin’s president and CEO.

Ballet San Antonio’s executive director Ewin Nicole Eubanks said the following: “This convergence of our organizations speaks to our dedication to bringing world-class performing arts to our community.”

“Opera is full of opportunities to collaborate,” noted Meeker.  Opera San Antonio is the producer of the show, it provided the sets, costumes and principal singers; Classical Music Institute worked in collaboration with the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio to select five students from YOSA to join the professional musicians in the orchestra pit, and I have incorporated Ballet San Antonio dancers.

It must have been a challenge for her to integrate all those elements?

“Yes, but every opera is beautifully collaborative. To be an effective director, dealing with multiple people is always part of the job. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was a great example. We had 12 principal singers; we had six dancers; we had a chorus of 40, and seven actors. ’Hansel and Gretel’ fits into that mold of great spectacle and lots of collaboration.

On top of that, this opera is a co-production with the New Orleans Opera, where sets and costumes were originally developed. The production debuted in New Orleans about a year ago and now it’s coming here, to San Antonio.

“For a director to have the opportunity to develop a concept, develop a brand-new production from the ground up is what makes me passionate about those projects. There’s also so much that we can learn through the characters; I enjoy the dramatic journey of this piece, and the music and orchestration are so lush and so gorgeous, that it is hard not to get just swept up over the course of the evening. It’s truly a masterpiece.”

 In an effort to make the production accessible, OSA will open the final dress rehearsal performance to more than 1,000 students and teachers, many of whom will experience opera for the first time. Thanks to sponsorships, 500 tickets will be offered to students, teachers and veterans for each performance.
——————————————————————————————————————–Oct. 5 at 7 p.m., and Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts; tickets are on sale at www.tobincenter.org,  via phone at 210-223-8624 or in person at the box office, 100 Auditorium Circle. An hour before each performance audience members can attend a lecture about the presented work that is open to all ticket holders.