…more than 120 schools, actually.

Tulsa Opera, Inc. kicks off the seventh year of Opera on Tour! with a statewide elementary school tour of “Green Eggs

"The Elixir of Love" Cast

and Ham” by Dr. Seuss, and a newly introduced middle and high school tour of “The Elixir of Love” by Gaetano Donizetti.  These traveling opera adaptations will visit more than 120 schools in Oklahoma before the tour concludes in April.

Opera on Tour! is a music education initiative of Tulsa Opera.  Prior to the performance, participating schools receive a teaching packet.  Elementary students receive a vocabulary guide, coloring pages, recipes and a lesson on theater etiquette.  Middle and high school students receive an opera synopsis and basic opera education materials.  Students are invited to participate in the performances, which both last 45 minutes and include a question and answer session with the performers following the shows.  Both shows are performed by Tulsa Opera studio artists, visiting opera singers training with Tulsa Opera.

“Green Eggs and Ham” is a musical adaptation of the book, performed by Anna Steenerson and Adrienne Pardee.  “The Elixir of Love” is a shortened version of the popular comic opera about finding true love, performed in English and set in a high school in the early 1950s.  This production stars Brian Landry as Nemorino, Joe Valone as Sergeant Belcore, Jeffrey Beruan and Kevin Eckard as Dr. Dulcamara and Anna Steenerson and Adrienne Pardee alternating as Adina and Gianetta.

Brian Landry as Nemorino and Anna Steenerson as Adina.

Opera on Tour! is an initiative of the Kravis Education and Outreach Program of Tulsa Opera, and it is made possible through community grants and donations.  Other initiatives of the Kravis Education and Outreach Program include Tulsa Youth Opera and community music education events.