CU Presents showcases magical "Hansel and Gretel" opera

Thomas Bocchi as The Gingerbread Witch, left, Kristina Butler as Gretel, center, and Salleigh Harvey as Hänsel perform during during a dress rehearsal of “Hänsel und Gretel” in Macky Auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)

The opera “Hansel and Gretel,” presented by the Eklund Opera Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a magical whirlwind of music, laughter and entertainment.

The entire performance is filled with beautifully performed music and hilariously fun choreography that brings this classic Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale to life. The lyrics of the music are performed in German, with English subtitles displayed above the production so audience members are able to understand the story.

Director Leigh Holman, music director Nicholas Carthy, the tech crew, pit orchestra and cast members all worked diligently to display a fun and creative take on this nineteenth-century opera, originally written by Engelbert Humperdinck.

The tale of “Hansel and Gretel” is well-known across the world. The story begins with a pair of mischievous siblings, Hansel and Gretel, who are the children of a broom-maker, Peter, and his wife, Gertrude. The family is very poor and often struggles to put food on the table.

One day, Gertrude comes home to find Hansel and Gretel playing instead of working, which angers her. As a result of her anger, a fight breaks out between her and her children, causing a jug of milk to get broken and spilled. Because there is nothing left to eat, Gertrude sends Hansel and Gretel into the woods to find strawberries for supper.

When Peter returns home, he realizes his children were sent into the woods and explains the danger to Gertrude, who immediately regrets her decision. They both run after Hansel and Gretel. While Hansel and Gretel are in the woods, they encounter many different beings including the Sleep Fairy, the Dew Fairy and the Ballet Angels before finally encountering the Gingerbread Witch.

Dancers perform during a dress rehearsal performance of “Hänsel und Gretel” in Macky Auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)

The Gingerbread Witch is known for leading children to her home, which is made entirely out of sweets. She then throws the children into the oven and turns them into gingerbread children before finally eating them. Hansel and Gretel were both lured to the house and trapped by the witch’s magical powers.

However, Hansel and Gretel are very clever. The witch tries to lure Gretel into the oven to be baked, but Gretel outsmarts the witch and ends up pushing her into the oven first, ultimately killing her. With the witch dead, all the previously baked gingerbread children are freed. The story ends with Gertrude and Peter finding Hansel and Gretel and the family being reunited once again.

The production process for the show began in April of 2024. Caitlyn Fuller, a second-year master’s student in vocal performance and vocal pedagogy, played the role of Gertrude in the Friday performance.

“This is months and months and months of work,” said Fuller. “It starts when you get cast. You then were told ‘This is the script we’re using.’ You immediately start working on the music and you work so hard on that months in advance when you get to perform. Into rehearsals, you are ready to go, ready to dive into the character work, then [the set] comes together while you’re doing that in a completely different building. And then we get [to the performance stage], and we get like a week to be in this magical world and figure out what we can do and what we can’t do.”

Kristina Butler as Gretel, left, and Salleigh Harvey as Hänsel sing during a dress rehearsal performance of “Hänsel und Gretel” in Macky Auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)

Jacqueline Bell, a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in classical vocal performance and minoring in Italian, described how she prepared for her role as the Dew Fairy for the Friday performance, particularly how she and other vocalists learned to sing their music in German.

“Usually, what vocalists do is they use the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is what you see in dictionaries. That’s how we learn to pronounce [German lyrics] and we write the translations underneath our scores,” said Bell. “So as we’re singing it, we see what we’re saying and we also know how to pronounce it.”

Members of the pit orchestra, Danielle Richard and Jordan Spivack, both of whom play the French horn, said that the process of preparing for the show was difficult but rewarding.

“This is really challenging music, especially for us, our parts are so taxing,” said Spivack. “The horn parts are the featured instrument for a lot of the sections. For instance, the very first thing you hear when the opera starts is the French horn theme, and it’s so beautiful… it’s hard, it’s really hard to get through day after day, but it’s absolutely worth it.”

Richard noted the meaning of the production for her, particularly as a sophomore undergraduate student.

“So I’m actually an undergrad, and this is my first time playing in a graduate-level production,” said Richard. “So I’m having a great time, but it’s also really terrifying being surrounded by musicians that have five to 10 more years of experience than me. This just feels really special.”

Fuller described how performing in Macky Auditorium and playing an untraditional role as a soprano have made this production especially special for her.

“I’ve been here for two years and I have never been able to sing on this stage, so it’s really exciting to get to sing in such a beautiful house, ” Fuller said. “It also means a lot to me because I’m a soprano, and a lot of sopranos don’t get to play the angry, mean characters, but as [Gertrude] that’s my whole job, which is awesome. It’s so fun.”

Bell also noted the personal connections she has to the performance.

“It really does mean a lot to me because my grandpa is coming and he always wanted to be an opera singer,” said Bell. “He’s coming from Santa Fe, and he always is so excited when I sing.”