nothin Humperdinck Resurfaces | New Haven Independent

Humperdinck Resurfaces

Before there was Engelbert Humperdinck, the super-lite English pop singer (sort of the Brits’ Wayne Newton), there was the man from whom he took his name, the great German opera composer Engelbert Humperdinck (1854 – 1921).

His masterpiece, Hänsel und Gretel, was given four performances, this past Thursday to Saturday, by the Opera Theatre of Yale. The undergraduate troupe this year comprise 63 participants, which includes the singers, instrumentalists, production staff, dancers, and rehearsal pianists,” according to Brooke Lamell, a junior and the show’s producer.

A dramatization of the macabre folk tale that we all know, Hänsel und Gretel is perhaps the best all-ages introduction to opera: accessible, melodious, easy to follow, and, unusual for opera, short.

On Saturday afternoon, the absurdly talented Yale collective offered a special Hansel and Gretel Kids’ Day, organized by junior Dan Rubins, with activities beginning an hour before showtime and continuing during intermission.

Mark Oppenheimer photo

Starting at one o’clock, young visitors to the lobby of Yale School of Medicine’s Harkness Auditorium could color at the Hansel and Gretel Coloring Center, they could (appropriately) decorate a gingerbread man, and they could, if they descended to the lower level, visit the Instrument Petting Zoo, where Alison Levosky (above), a sophomore from New Jersey, supervised young people — including one stunningly mohawked tyke — trying out violins and a trumpet.

The show began late, a testament to the full house and operatic tradition.

Those in attendance were treated to a full pit orchestra …

… and a libretto sung entirely in the original German, with supertitles above the stage.

This helped out those old enough to read, which not everyone was.

At intermission, conductor Jacob Joyce let audience members have a turn conducting several members of his orchestra.

One audience member beamed her approval after a restroom break.

After intermission, the pit players warmed up again.

Audience members settled in for the second act. When the show was over, even the witch was still alive …

… if only barely. Hansel and Gretel took a bow.

As did the rest, who won a cheering ovation.

Afterward, sophomore Abby Sneider, who played the Sandman, chatted with her fans.

And everyone got a souvenir to take home.

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