Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 9 The Queen of Spades

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 37 A hands-on opera experience for all ages: Lyric’s Family Day On Saturday, May 16, the Lyric Opera House will welcome families eager to experience all aspects of operatic stagecraft. Lyric Unlimited (Lyric’s department devoted to learning and creative engagement) and Lyric’s Guild Board of Directors host a wonderful day that includes something for everyone, from exploring the orchestra pit to trying on costumes. “Family Day is targeted particularly to families with children ages five to ten,” says Todd Snead, Lyric’s director of learning programs. “There are opera-themed craft tables, demonstrations with teaching artists and stage-combat experts, face-painting by Lyric’s makeup artists, and kids can even control the light board themselves! The event also includes a special performance by professional opera singers on the mainstage.” Lyric teaching artist Elise LaBarge loves Family Day because “it’s actually at the opera house! We get to show everything to people directly, instead of just talking about it. Last year I was in the orchestra pit, and the year before I did storytelling with a colleague. We took operas based on fairytales – like Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel – to show that opera is a form of storytelling that engages the audience with familiar storylines and characters in a unique way.” Heather Keith, another Lyric teaching artist, leads a Family Day activity which she describes as “being an opera star for 15 minutes. We teach kids an excerpt from an opera, about 20-30 seconds of music – the first year it was the dance from the opening of Hansel and Gretel – and we create an operatic scene for the kids to perform. Last year, we taught them a song about finding a magic triangle (the musical instrument, that is). On Family Day, an especially young musician examines Lyric Opera Orchestra member Bill Cernota’s cello. The exhilaration of trying on a costume in Lyric’s wardrobe department. Todd Rosenberg Todd Rosenberg The melody was based on the ‘Parpignol’ children’s chorus from La bohème , but the text was rewritten to give clues as to what the object was. What’s awesome about this activity is that kids get to perform their scene on the mainstage – just like professional opera stars!” William Cernota, a cellist in the Lyric Opera Orchestra, views Family Day as “a bold attempt to be all that opera is during the course of one day.” When a five-year-old girl encountered Cernota’s cello, “she asked, ‘How do you make that sound?’ I put my hand on hers and we drew the bow across the strings, with her providing the energy. Her eyes lit up!” During the first two Family Days [2018, 2019] Cernota performed with clarinetist Susan Warner and oboist Judith Zunamon Lewis in the orchestra pit – “we demonstrated our instruments and then we played together, to a storyline we had created. In the second year, Elise LaBarge acted out the story to the music we were playing, fitting her facial expressions and body language to the character of the music – sad, happy, expectant. The kids were mesmerized.” Many parents wrote to Lyric that Family Day made their children instantly eager to attend a full opera performance. One parent declared, “I am always on the lookout for fun, educational, entertaining, and affordable activities for my family. Family Day at Lyric pretty much covered all of my requirements! Just being inside the Lyric Opera House makes you feel grand.” Family Day is made possible by generous support from Lead Corporate Sponsor Bank of America . For tickets and further information, visit lyricopera.org/ familyday