Originally performed 55 times by the children of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp under the direction of its likewise interned composer, Brundibar tells the story of a brother and sister who join forces with a sparrow, cat and dog to outwit the evil organ grinder, Brundibar.
Special thanks to the following for creating the Brundibar trailer
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Creative Alliance Productions
Mark Mathews Jody Sherwin |
TVS Studios
Rick Ghersi Sam Hanneh |
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Student Dress Rehearsal - Field trip opportunity
Friday, March 14, 2014, 11:00am-12:00pm $10/Student Ticket; 1 FREE Chaperone Ticket/every 10 Tickets Purchased* *Pricing applies to groups of 10 children or more only, not to individuals. Individuals may attend the Friday performance at the rate of $25/adult, $15/child. Groups must order tickets in advance to receive the $10 group pricing. Groups ordering the day of the show will pay the rate of $15/student. Contact [email protected] to order Friday tickets in advance. We appreciate the tremendous response for field trip grant funds to see Brundibar. At this time all funds have been allocated. There are still tickets available for purchase.
Download a group ticket reservation form for Friday, March 14
Download the teacher's guide to Brundibar.
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Public Performance
Sunday, March 16, 2014, 2:30-3:30pm Tickets: Children up to age 16: $15.00 Adults ages 16+: $30.00 Michigan Opera Theatre Box Office www.motopera.org 313-237-SING | ||||
MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE
presents
BRUNDIBÁR
March 14 and 16, 2014
presents
BRUNDIBÁR
March 14 and 16, 2014
The Michigan Opera Theatre Children’s Chorus (MOTCC) will present an opera for children – by children. Brundibár, a children’s opera with immense historical significance will be performed entirely by children. The opera will be given one public performance on the Detroit Opera House stage on Sunday, March 16th at 2:30pm, in addition to a student dress rehearsal (available for school field trips) on Friday, March 14th at 11am.
Now in its 7th year, the MOT Children’s Chorus has 80 members and has performed in such venues as the Fox Theatre, the Detroit Opera House (DOH), Marygrove College, America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, the Mall at Partridge Creek and on WJR Radio and FOX 2 News. Led by Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus Master Suzanne Mallare Acton, this permanent children’s choir is the first of its kind for Detroit-area children. Accepting children ages 8-16 by audition, the choir performs as a separate ensemble and with international opera stars in MOT productions
Brundibár is a children’s opera written in 1938 by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krása as an allegory to give hope to children and adults in a seemingly hopeless time. An opera that opens the doors for appropriate age-level discussion, the performance is designed to be a learning experience for adults and children alike. The opera begins when two children, Pepíček and Aninku, try to earn money to buy milk for their sick mother. They decide to sing in the marketplace to raise the needed funds, but the evil organ grinder Brundibár chases them away. However, with the help of a fearless sparrow, clever cat, wise dog, and the children of the town, Pepiček and Aninku are able to chase Brundibár away and sing in the market square.
There will be many educational experiences related to the opera. Following the performances, there will be a question and answer period in which audience will be invited to ask questions of the performers and get an up-close view of the sets and costumes. They will have the opportunity to learn more about the opera and its historic context at that time.
Michigan Opera Theatre is pleased to announce that Ela Stein Weissberger will be a guest for the performances of Brundibár. Ms. Weissberger performed as an original cast member in Brundibár at the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp and has written a book that chronicles her experiences, The Cat with the Yellow Star. Before each performance, Ms. Weissberger will speak to the audience about life in the camp. At the end of the performance, Ms. Weissberger will actually perform with the MOT Children’s Chorus in the final group song. The production will be conducted by Dianna Hochella and directed by Michael Yashinsky.
Hans Krása wrote Brundibár for children to perform as a means of entertaining the children in Prague’s orphanage system. When thousands of Eastern Europe’s children were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, the Nazis allowed the Jews to perform the opera as a means of crowd control.
Brundibár helped to lift the children’s spirits and build a sense of community. In the winter of 1942 the opera was first performed at the orphanage: by this time, composer Krása and set designer František Zelenka had already been transported to Theresienstadt. By July 1943, nearly all of the children of the original chorus and the orphanage staff had also been transported to the camp. Only the librettist Adolf Hoffmeister was fortunate enough to escape Prague in time. Reunited with the cast in Theresienstadt, Krása reconstructed the full score of the opera, based on memory and the partial piano score that remained in his hands, adapting it to suit the musical instruments available in the camp: flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion, piano, percussion, four violins, a cello and a double bass. A set was once again designed by František Zelenka, formerly a stage manager at the Czech National Theatre. Several flats were painted as a background, and in the foreground was a fence with posters of the cat, dog and sparrow, with holes through which the singers portraying those roles could pop out when they sang. On June 23, 1943, Brundibár premiered in Terezin. The production was directed by Zelenka and choreographed by Camilla Rosenbaum; it was shown 55 times in 1944. Most of the participants in the Theresienstadt production, including the composer Krása, were later killed in the Auschwitz extermination camp.
To the outside world, Theresienstadt was presented by the Nazis as a model Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a concentration camp with internees dying daily of typhus and starvation. Jews from Denmark were sent to Theresienstadt in 1943. The Danish government then insisted on the Red Cross having access to the ghetto. In 1944, the Nazis permitted the visit by the Red Cross in order to dispel rumors about the extermination camps. To minimize the appearance of overcrowding in the camp, the Nazis deported many Jews to Auschwitz. They also erected fake shops and cafés to make it appear as though the Jews lived in relative comfort. The Danish Jews whom the Red Cross visited lived in freshly painted rooms, not more than three to a room. The guests also enjoyed a performance of Brundibár during their visit. The hoax was so successful for the Nazis that they went on to make a propaganda film at Theresienstadt meant to show how well the Jews lived under the "benevolent" protection of the Third Reich.
Of the 15,000 children that were sent to Terezin, 100 survived, including Ela Weissberger. The educational impact of having Ms. Weissberger come to the DOH, on both the MOTCC performers and audience members, will be tremendous.
It is clear that students who have experienced the opera have understood Brundibár’s messages. Responses to the performance include: “It is an uplifting story,” “It is a little opera, but I think it is powerful with the message it conveys.” “It was such a bad time that it should be remembered.” “Learning about the Holocaust is part of the curriculum in the eighth grade. It is special and real, but when you meet someone who was present at that time, it is better than reading about it in a book.” “You have to be on guard and bring it (the Holocaust) up from time to time. Evil always reappears.” In her book, Ela Weissberger writes about performing in the opera, “When we were singing, we forgot all our troubles . . . It was possible to have hope.” She was surprised the Nazis would really let them put on an opera, especially because of the ending. “As the opera comes to its close, and we sang the victory march ‘Brundibár is Defeated,’ there was – each time – thunderous applause. Everyone at Terezin knew that Brundibár represented Hitler.” At the end of Brundibar, the audiences at Terezin would enthusiastically join in to sing,
Now in its 7th year, the MOT Children’s Chorus has 80 members and has performed in such venues as the Fox Theatre, the Detroit Opera House (DOH), Marygrove College, America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, the Mall at Partridge Creek and on WJR Radio and FOX 2 News. Led by Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus Master Suzanne Mallare Acton, this permanent children’s choir is the first of its kind for Detroit-area children. Accepting children ages 8-16 by audition, the choir performs as a separate ensemble and with international opera stars in MOT productions
Brundibár is a children’s opera written in 1938 by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krása as an allegory to give hope to children and adults in a seemingly hopeless time. An opera that opens the doors for appropriate age-level discussion, the performance is designed to be a learning experience for adults and children alike. The opera begins when two children, Pepíček and Aninku, try to earn money to buy milk for their sick mother. They decide to sing in the marketplace to raise the needed funds, but the evil organ grinder Brundibár chases them away. However, with the help of a fearless sparrow, clever cat, wise dog, and the children of the town, Pepiček and Aninku are able to chase Brundibár away and sing in the market square.
There will be many educational experiences related to the opera. Following the performances, there will be a question and answer period in which audience will be invited to ask questions of the performers and get an up-close view of the sets and costumes. They will have the opportunity to learn more about the opera and its historic context at that time.
Michigan Opera Theatre is pleased to announce that Ela Stein Weissberger will be a guest for the performances of Brundibár. Ms. Weissberger performed as an original cast member in Brundibár at the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp and has written a book that chronicles her experiences, The Cat with the Yellow Star. Before each performance, Ms. Weissberger will speak to the audience about life in the camp. At the end of the performance, Ms. Weissberger will actually perform with the MOT Children’s Chorus in the final group song. The production will be conducted by Dianna Hochella and directed by Michael Yashinsky.
Hans Krása wrote Brundibár for children to perform as a means of entertaining the children in Prague’s orphanage system. When thousands of Eastern Europe’s children were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, the Nazis allowed the Jews to perform the opera as a means of crowd control.
Brundibár helped to lift the children’s spirits and build a sense of community. In the winter of 1942 the opera was first performed at the orphanage: by this time, composer Krása and set designer František Zelenka had already been transported to Theresienstadt. By July 1943, nearly all of the children of the original chorus and the orphanage staff had also been transported to the camp. Only the librettist Adolf Hoffmeister was fortunate enough to escape Prague in time. Reunited with the cast in Theresienstadt, Krása reconstructed the full score of the opera, based on memory and the partial piano score that remained in his hands, adapting it to suit the musical instruments available in the camp: flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion, piano, percussion, four violins, a cello and a double bass. A set was once again designed by František Zelenka, formerly a stage manager at the Czech National Theatre. Several flats were painted as a background, and in the foreground was a fence with posters of the cat, dog and sparrow, with holes through which the singers portraying those roles could pop out when they sang. On June 23, 1943, Brundibár premiered in Terezin. The production was directed by Zelenka and choreographed by Camilla Rosenbaum; it was shown 55 times in 1944. Most of the participants in the Theresienstadt production, including the composer Krása, were later killed in the Auschwitz extermination camp.
To the outside world, Theresienstadt was presented by the Nazis as a model Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a concentration camp with internees dying daily of typhus and starvation. Jews from Denmark were sent to Theresienstadt in 1943. The Danish government then insisted on the Red Cross having access to the ghetto. In 1944, the Nazis permitted the visit by the Red Cross in order to dispel rumors about the extermination camps. To minimize the appearance of overcrowding in the camp, the Nazis deported many Jews to Auschwitz. They also erected fake shops and cafés to make it appear as though the Jews lived in relative comfort. The Danish Jews whom the Red Cross visited lived in freshly painted rooms, not more than three to a room. The guests also enjoyed a performance of Brundibár during their visit. The hoax was so successful for the Nazis that they went on to make a propaganda film at Theresienstadt meant to show how well the Jews lived under the "benevolent" protection of the Third Reich.
Of the 15,000 children that were sent to Terezin, 100 survived, including Ela Weissberger. The educational impact of having Ms. Weissberger come to the DOH, on both the MOTCC performers and audience members, will be tremendous.
It is clear that students who have experienced the opera have understood Brundibár’s messages. Responses to the performance include: “It is an uplifting story,” “It is a little opera, but I think it is powerful with the message it conveys.” “It was such a bad time that it should be remembered.” “Learning about the Holocaust is part of the curriculum in the eighth grade. It is special and real, but when you meet someone who was present at that time, it is better than reading about it in a book.” “You have to be on guard and bring it (the Holocaust) up from time to time. Evil always reappears.” In her book, Ela Weissberger writes about performing in the opera, “When we were singing, we forgot all our troubles . . . It was possible to have hope.” She was surprised the Nazis would really let them put on an opera, especially because of the ending. “As the opera comes to its close, and we sang the victory march ‘Brundibár is Defeated,’ there was – each time – thunderous applause. Everyone at Terezin knew that Brundibár represented Hitler.” At the end of Brundibar, the audiences at Terezin would enthusiastically join in to sing,
“We’ve won a victory,
Since we were not fearful,
Since we were not tearful,
Because we marched along,
Singing our happy song,
Bright, joyful, and cheerful.”
“We were happy,” said Ela, “and so was the audience. We all wanted to completely exhaust that moment of freedom. When we were onstage, it was the only time we were allowed to remove our yellow stars.”
Since we were not fearful,
Since we were not tearful,
Because we marched along,
Singing our happy song,
Bright, joyful, and cheerful.”
“We were happy,” said Ela, “and so was the audience. We all wanted to completely exhaust that moment of freedom. When we were onstage, it was the only time we were allowed to remove our yellow stars.”
