Puccini and Popcorn

Last weekend, I tried something new and took my four oldest to the Art Museum for something called "Puccini and Popcorn," a free program sponsored by Opera Southwest.  I didn't know much about it beyond the brief description on the Museum's website.  I just told the kids I was taking them to some fun opera activity.  

The kids by a big head sculpture outside the museum.

I shouldn't have said anything.  You should have heard Dallin whining all morning about going to that.  How boring it would be, and did he have to go? and why did he have to learn something on Saturday when he already spent the whole week learning stuff at school? and he didn't want to sing in front of people, and nobody was going to make him, and blah, blah, blah.  Then of course Hayden piped in the first few minutes when we were waiting for it to start, "Mom, thith ith tho boring.  I told you thith would be tho boring, Mom."  

Well, let me just say that as soon as it was finished, they all ran over to me and said they definitely don't want to miss the next one.  

It turns out that we missed the first session which was held in November.  At that session, all the kids wrote a story that could be turned into an opera.  At our session, they told us the story that they would be using (a mix of a couple of stories from the first session,) and then told the kids they would be helping to write one of the songs.  It was fascinating to watch that process.  They set up the scene of the song, and said which characters were singing and what happened just before the song.  Then they asked the kids to talk about how they thought the girl would feel, or how they thought the soldier would feel.  As the kids had ideas, they were written down on a big board, and then during the snack break, one of the teachers took the main points from all the thoughts that were written down, and wrote a song for it!  

Here are the kids getting ready to do a square dance that happens at the beginning of the opera.  

(Our opera takes place during the Civil War)

This is Daphne being a dancing flower in the garden after the brother comes back to life from the magic tears of his sister and the soldier who killed him.  

The battle.  

Sean and Hayden are aiming their rifles at the soldiers across the way.  This is what made them want to come back next time--an epic battle scene in slow motion.  They loved it!  And the teachers said that for the last session to take place in June, everyone gets to wear costumes, and they'll practice the whole opera, and act it out in front of all the parents.  

Here is some footage of the slow-motion battle that made this 2-hour opera class completely worth it for my boys.  Even though they all died in the battle.  

I'm tellin' you-- this opera has it all:  conflicted love, magic, and a bit of violence;  

All the makings of a classic opera.