DECATUR — What happens when a young girl in a red hood, a grandmother, a woodsman and a nosy old wolf get together? A recipe for mayhem that sets the stage for one of the most popular fairy tales of all time.
Everybody knows the age-old story. A little girl delivers groceries to her grandmother who lives deep in the woods. A big bad wolf spots the girl and decides to have her for lunch. Rejected, the wolf heads straight to Red's grandmother's house, eats the old lady. (Why would the wolf still be hungry? Think about it.) Red arrives at grandma's place and begins slamming wolf for his looks and bad breath. Suddenly, a woodman appears out of nowhere and eliminates the wolf. End of story. For the students at Northside Elementary, the old familiar story was about to change.
The Tulsa Opera Company traveled to Decatur Feb. 27 to perform the operetta, "Little Red's Most Unusual Day," by John Davies. Music was written by famed opera composers Jacques Offenbach (1792-1868) and Gioachino Rossini (1818-1880).
Rossini (1792-1868) was an Italian-born composer during the Romantic period of music best known for the "William Tell Overture," more commonly known as the theme for the Lone Ranger television series. Offenbach (1818-1880) was a German born French composer also from the Romantic period famous for his French cabaret music or "CanCan."
"Little Red's Most Unusual Day" now involves a forest ranger who falls in love with Red's mother. He tries to pass a love note to Mother Hood. The note finds its way into the wrong basket which is bound for Granny Hood's house. Granny Hood finds the note and, when the wolf arrives for lunch, a chase around the living room ensues until Mother Hood and Ranger Dudley walk in. Little Red arrives at granny's house late as usual and joins the fun which leads to a mad house. Suddenly, a woodsman bursts into the house, dispatches the wolf, and Mother Hood and Ranger Dudley live happily ever after. As for Red, she lives to deliver groceries for another day. What a most unusual day!
The performers for the Northside program were Jana McIntyre as Little Red, Darren Drone as Mr. BigBad (the wolf), Humberto Borboa as Forest Ranger Dudley and Gabrielle Reed as Mom/Granny Hood. Gordon Schermer accompanied the group on the piano.
The comical ride into a day in the life of a delivery girl named Red was put together by Kristin Wages, music teacher at Northside, as a way to expose the Decatur students to a different and time-honored form of music called opera.
Each year Wages gets a group like the Tulsa Opera Company to perform at Northside as a way to build appreciation for different forms of music. By exposing students to other forms of music at an early age, Wages hopes that her students build an interest in music and become part of performing groups such as the band and choir programs at Decatur Middle and High Schools.
General News on 03/08/2017