The first opera Annabel Gigley saw was her own.
Annabel, a fifth-grader at Erwin Montessori, won Greensboro Opera’s 2012 “Write Your Own Opera!” competition, judged by UNCG Opera Theatre Director David Holley. Last week, she had a front-row seat as her short opera, “Jacks are Wild!” came to life on the stage at the Carolina Theatre.
Annabel found out she had won the competition just before Christmas break, an early present.
“I love to write and I thought entering the contest would be a good opportunity for me,” said the soft-spoken young author with the shy smile. Her favorite part is the ending, when the audience votes for the winners of an imaginary game show featuring fairytale characters.
The contest, designed to introduce kids to opera and sponsored by VF Corp and the Cemala Foundation, is in its third year. Fourth-graders in the public schools enter each year.
Winning operas are performed along with Greensboro Opera’s full-length show for children. This year’s main show was “Help! Help! The Globolinks!” — a fun takeoff on Orson Welles’ 1938 “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast.
Holley chose Annabel’s short story, “Battle of the Princesses,” and set about turning it into a 10-minute libretto. Mark Engebretson, Holley’s colleague in the UNCG School of Music, scored the piece.
“Jacks are Wild!” centers on a singing contest between three teams: Jasmine and Aladdin, Jack and Jill, and Cinderella and Prince Charming. Children in the audience snapped, clapped and hollered on cue as the characters performed lively original tunes like “You Don’t Know Jack!” and “Fi Fi Fo Fum!”
Adults in the audience found a lot to enjoy as well. Like the moment one of the princes in the show breaks into “Raspberry Beret.” “Not that Prince!” scolds the host, Jack of All Trades.
Spoiler alert: Cinderella and Prince Charming win out in the end. But Annabel cheered for all three talented couples in the contest she dreamed up.
Posted by Michelle Hines
Photography by Chris English
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