The Little Prince (opera)

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Joseph McManners as The Little Prince
Joseph McManners as The Little Prince

The Little Prince, subtitled A Magical Opera, is an opera in two acts by Rachel Portman to an English libretto by Nicholas Wright, based on the 1943 book of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. First performance: Houston, 2003.

Contents

[edit] History

The Little Prince was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera and premiered in May 2003 with Nate Irvin as The Little Prince and Teddy Tahu Rhodes as the Pilot. It was then performed by the Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Boston Lyric Opera with Jeffrey Walter as the Little Prince. Houston Grand Opera had a return engagement in December 2004 with Jeffrey Walter as the Little Prince and Jeffrey Allison.

In the UK, it was filmed by the BBC following a nationwide talent search for children to play the roles of the Prince, the Rose and a chorus of thirty-six vocalists. Over 25,000 children applied, with over 6,500 taking part in auditions. The television show Blue Peter documented the search for the singers, and filmed their training and rehearsals. The Little Prince was broadcast on BBC2 on Saturday, 27 November 2004 at 7:30pm.

Performances scheduled in the US include those by the University of Kentucky Opera in April 2005, the New York City Opera in November 2005 respectively, the Tulsa, Oklahoma City Opera , the Santa Fé Opera, and the San Francisco Opera in May 2008.

[edit] Cast and crew

Please note : these concern the BBC production

The Cast :

  • The Little Prince - Joseph McManners (Soprano)
  • The Pilot - Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Baritone)
  • The Fox - Lesley Garrett (Mezzo-soprano)
  • The Rose - Mairead Carlin (Soprano)
  • The Water - Gweneth-Ann Jeffers (Soprano)
  • The Snake - Tom Randle (Tenor)
  • The Lamplighter - Timothy Robinson (Tenor)
  • The Businessman - Richard Suart (Baritone)
  • The King - Willard White (Baritone)
  • The Vain Man - Richard Coxon (Tenor)
  • The Drunkard - Aled Jones (Tenor)
  • The Children (stars & birds) - Children's choir

The Crew :

[edit] Release details

Following the television broadcast, BBC in conjunction with Sony Classical released a double-CD and DVD production of The Little Prince on Monday 29th November 2004. Upon release the CD set entered the classical charts.

  • The CD release contains the entire performance on two CDs (Acts 1 & 2), and comes in a fold-out case with the 74-page libretto, containing photographs from the opera and illustrations from the original book. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
  • The DVD release includes the full performance as screened on BBC2, plus bonus features of the Blue Peter special, The Little Prince music video and a photograph gallery.

[edit] External links