‘Reluctant Dragon’ is children’s opera
A children’s opera about a poetry-loving dragon and a boy who tries to save him from angry townsfolk is to be presented by Opera Workshop students at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School.
“The Reluctant Dragon” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14, in the Lincoln Park Music Department building at Ninth Street and Midland Avenue. The performance is free and open to the public.
Director Christiana Howell, a vocal teacher at Lincoln Park, said Opera Workshop shows are designed to introduce a young audience to opera – plays in which all dialogue is sung.
“The Reluctant Dragon” is a children’s story by Kenneth Grahame which was set to music by John Rutter in 1984. John Rutter is a British composer who writes mostly choral music.
In Grahame’s story, a young boy discovers an erudite, poetry-loving dragon living near his home. The two become friends, but when dragon is discovered by the townsfolk, they send for St. George to rid them of it.
The boy introduces St. George to the dragon, and the two decide that it would be better for them not to fight. They decide to stage a fake battle between the two combatants.
The dragon will be played by Justin Capozzoli, a senior from Shaler Township. St. George will be played by Tyree Jones, an Aliquippa senior. The page (“boy”) will be played by Morgan Lecce, Aliquippa senior, and Mariah Keefer, a junior from Monaca. Narrator is Julianna Sacco, an Ambridge senior.
The parts of villagers and other characters will be sung by: Ashlee Bigler, Dominique Cagliuso, Veronica Cooklin, Jesse DeAngelis, Brenda Elkins, Taner Hall, Kayla Mullen, Emily Pasquarelli, Amanda Ricker, Lindsy Thomas, Skyler Torboli, Chase Zelechowski and Emmilia Zimmel.