EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
TOURING CHILDREN'S OPERA
Together, Piedmont Opera and UNCSA's A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute take opera into elementary schools and other organizations that support children and underserved audiences.
It's true! You can bring Jack and the Beanstalk to your school!
Age Group
Recommended for students in pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade. A teacher packet (pdf) is provided. One printed copy is available upon request.
Duration & Cost
40 minutes, plus a 10-minute Q&A session with the performers for $150 invoiced by PO after the performance. (Limited sponsorships may be available.)
Requirements
An all-purpose room, gymnasium, or auditorium; microphone with a stand; tuned piano or stationary keyboard.
Scheduling
40 minutes, plus a 10-minute Q&A session with the performers for $150 invoiced by PO after the performance. (Limited sponsorships may be available.)
Living in poverty with his mother, Jack sells the family cow to a mysterious dustman for a handful of beans. When he returns home and shows his mom the scrawny seeds, she throws them out a window in despair. The beans, of course, take root, and in the moonlight a magical stalk grows to the sky.
Discovering the beanstalk and climbing it, as any boy hero would, Jack finds himself in the castle of a very large oaf and his kindly, haggard wife. Learning that this giant has taken his father’s golden hen, Jack, with the help of the Giant’s wife, stealthily takes it back. The Giant, in pursuit of Jack, receives a bump on the head after falling from the beanstalk, causing him to forget he’s supposed to be "bad". Realizing all the trouble he’s caused, the Giant resolves to behave well, agreeing that consideration for others requires people, large and small, to treat other people as they would want to be treated.
Meet the Cast
These hard-working, talented, and dedicated performers are graduate level students of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of UNCSA working on professional degrees in opera. Once accepted into these highly selective programs, students perform in fully-staged productions of new and established operatic works and participate in touring and outreach programs. Extensive performance experience is enriched by advanced studies in voice, language, diction, operatic literature, acting, movement, stage combat, and career enhancement strategies.
Trouble Man (a dust man and entrepreneur) and The Giant will be played by Ghalip Halifu and Christian Souza
Jack B. Nimble (a capable young man) will be played by Callie Iliff and Wyatt Johnston
Mrs. Nimble (Jack's mother) and The Giant's Wife will be played by Claire Griffin and Darby Schmidt
About Our Partnership
The A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute is an Academic Institute of Higher Education, and Piedmont Opera is a nonprofit professional opera company. Both organizations collaborate to bring you this educational program. We invite our patrons and donors to become engaged in supporting this traveling opera. A gift at any level helps keep the arts in schools and exposes elementary students to opera while teaching important moral lessons. Teachers receive a comprehensive packet filled with pre- and post-show information and activities that align with NC teaching standards to take students from exposure to comprehension. If you would like to help support this partnership or sponsor a school, please contact Piedmont Opera at info@piedmontopera.org or 336.725.7101.