A local theater company promises “lush music, stunning visuals, and evocative storytelling” in a production that will “inspire both children and adults.”
Resonance Works presents, for the first time in Pittsburgh, the operatic adaptation of The Little Prince. The show — which stages on Fri., Nov. 22 and Sun., Nov. 24 at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall — features local singers of all ages, ranging from a pre-teen former reality competition show contestant to older, more seasoned performers.
“We always are programming with artists in mind,” Maria Sensi Sellner, Resonance Works’ artistic and general director, tells Pittsburgh City Paper.
Based on the 1943 novella by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the two-act opera follows The Pilot who, after crashing his plane in a desert, meets The Little Prince, “a young, otherworldly child who has left his tiny asteroid to travel the universe in search of what is most important in life. Together, the two learn important truths about love, friendship, and the importance of seeing with the heart.” They also encounter various characters during their journey including The Snake and The Rose.
The opera was adapted by Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman and librettist Nicholas Wright, and first performed in 2003 at the Houston Grand Opera.
During a break in rehearsal on the lower level of the First United Methodist Church of Pittsburgh, Sensi Sellner, stage director Keturah Stickann, and performer Daniel Teadt agree that the show’s themes are profound. While the story was written for children, it also deals with isolation and loss, and The Pilot learns much from the young boy.
Despite being published over 80 years ago, the story still has an audience — Sensi Sellner says tickets for both performances are almost sold out but some balcony seating is still available.
Victory Brinker, a 12-year-old Latrobe resident who, at 9, became a finalist on American’s Got Talent, tells City Paper that she feels “amazing” when singing as The Little Prince. She hopes the message audience members will take away from the opera is “Eyes are blind, look only with the heart,” a quote from the production.
Sensi Sellner says the company previously had “the wonderful experience” of working with Brinker in 2022 Resonance Works’ production of Amahl and the Night Visitors.
“It’s really wonderful … to do another project with her in a role that’s meant for a young person,” Sensi Sellner adds.
Of Teadt, a baritone who plays The Pilot and has been working with Resonance Works since the company’s first season, Sensi Sellner says, “He’s one of the most brilliant musical storytellers that I know … He’s the most perfect Pilot that I could imagine.”
The Pittsburgh Youth Chorus will add more voices to The Little Prince.
Sensi Sellner says that in addition to the Youth Chorus, “We have world-class artists that come from all over. We’re a much smaller company than many other organizations in the city but the level of opera and concert performance and everything is very high … We want to help spread the word about it.”
Stickann tells CP that, in terms of design, audience members can expect whimsical puppets made of “found objects.” Stickann credits her designs to her childhood experiences. “I think about my brothers playing with ‘guns,’ but what they were really playing with was broomsticks running around the house, and I started thinking about, how do we tell these stories in a way where a kid would be like, ‘I’ll tell you this story about the snake and The Little Prince,’ and what would he use to make the snake?”
Adrianna Cleveland, a soprano making her Resonance Works main stage debut playing The Rose, says, “Having it physically in front of you definitely opens your mind up more to the interpretation of it, seeing all the creatures, hearing the snake … adds another depth of flavor into the stew of the story we’re telling.”
Teadt has a similar take on the operatic adaptation. “It’s grander, for sure … The book is very intimate … but seeing it on a stage like this, it comes to life.”
Resonance Works presents The Little Prince. Fri., Nov. 22 and Sun., Nov. 24. Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall. 300 Beechwood Ave.,
Carnegie. $7.50-30. All ages. resonanceworks.org
This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2024.
