Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 6 - Hansel and Gretel

35 | Lyric Opera of Chicago What can you tell our audience about the different sets? All three are versions of the same thing—a room with a sink, a table, and an oven or stove. Here again, this is to drive home the idea of hunger. These kids are in the same situation wherever they go. They are on a journey. But that journey is rooted in their quest for food. In the forest scene, this production gives us a very original idea of both the Sandman and the Dew Fairy. The Sandman is a simple and very old man. He lives in the woods—the kind of guy who just walks his dog through the woods and sells sleep to people who need it. Actually, he’s exhausted and can’t get any sleep himself. But this is his job! And the Dew Fairy is the young mother that Hansel and Gretel always wanted—your perfect “Donna Reed mom.” And speaking of television personalities—was it intentional to make the Witch a nightmarish version of Julia Child? Yes, completely intentional. Richard also wanted to play the duality of the Witch—both the sweet lady next door and the villainesse who can turn on a dime. I like to think of her as a pressure cooker, with that intense darkness always bubbling beneath the surface. Sometimes she accidentally lets it out, when she gets a little too excited by the prospect of eating these children. You see her look turn from sweet to disgusting and evil, but then she stifles it because she can’t expose that side of herself and still get what she wants. She also operates out of a spectacular industrial strength kitchen! The stage looks like a child’s birthday party gone crazy, with piles of food, cone shaped paper party hats, and a childlike painted tablecloth—all within a kitchen out of a horror movie. What’s amazing about that image is that it makes the point for Hansel and Gretel, but also for us, that we see what we want to see. In this otherwise dark and dirty place is this oasis of sugar— a table full of cake. Our wildest dreams come true. Dan Rest Dan Rest Elizabeth Deshong (above) as the hungry Hansel,and his parents, Julie Makerov and Brian Mulligan (at left), from Lyric’s 2012/13 production.