A new partnership between Houston Grand Opera and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston paves the way for future generations in the arts

It's day one of week two for the partnership between the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston and Houston Grand Opera. Eleven local teens from the Houston Texans Teen Club have assembled in a rehearsal room at the Wortham Theater Center, unsure of what to expect. So far, all they’ve understood is that they are here to attend some kind of summer camp. A team of HGO teaching artists leads the group through games, talks, and a tour. After breaking the ice, the teaching artists finally reveal to these young people what they’ll be doing over the course of the week: creating and performing an opera.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston is a youth development organization that seeks to inspire and enable members to become responsible, caring, and productive adults. BGCGH serves over 50,000 students through 25 clubs across five counties: Harris, Waller, Fort Bend, Wharton, and Galveston. 

This is HGO’s first year partnering with the BGCGH as part of a special Summer Opera Camps program. Nearly 60 teens across four different groups stepped through the Wortham Theater Center doors between June 9 and July 18. Through this partnership, HGO strives to reach and engage younger audiences throughout the Houston community.

The five-day summer program educates students about ways to pursue a career in the arts, as well as how the arts can be applied to other career paths—everything from a football player to a cosmetologist. Participants discovered that they didn’t necessarily need to belt out high Cs to help mount an opera. Each of them had a part to play according to their own talents.

When the teaching artists shared the plan for the week—creating a whole opera—many of the students traded concerned glances. None of them had ever seen an opera, and only a few had any background in theater. How were they supposed to create a whole opera with almost no experience in the art form?

Well, it wouldn’t exactly be a three-hour opera. Nor would they have to build it from scratch.

HGO’s Community & Learning department had provided teaching artists with some basic materials: a condensed script and some musical numbers from Engelbert Humperdinck’s 1893 opera Hansel and Gretel. (HGO is performing the original opera as both a full-length mainstage production and an abridged, English-language Family Day version.)

The premise of the script was the basic plot of the Brothers Grimm fairytale, with two excerpts from Humperdinck’s score: the folksy “Brother, come dance with me” and the solemn “Evening Prayer.” Using these resources, the students would develop their own spin on the classic story of Hansel and Gretel—a 15-minute mini-opera to be performed at their Boys & Girls Club location in the Houston Heights.

“Hansel and Gretel bridges the gap between opera and storytelling,” said Assistant Teaching Artist Brissa Trondle, a recent alumna of Texas State University School of Music. “It is a folktale that is easily accessible, with a fun twist.”

The first task was to handle the script, which was little more than a bare-bones plot. “So, we got creative,” said Trondle. The teens were allowed artistic liberties to make the script feel more natural to them. They were asked to modernize the language in front of their peers, who would then take notes about what they felt would work better. From there, the script evolved.

They moved the action from Germany to modern-day Fort Worth, with the occasional y’all thrown in. One major change involved transforming the character of the Witch into an old man. Rolando, the boy who stepped into this role, was excited to bring this reimagined Witch to life.

“It was fun,” he said. “I liked when we picked our roles, and I hope to interact with them again.” 

But not everyone was quite as amped as Rolando to be in the limelight. Many of the teens’ eyes tripled in size at the idea of performing. Some felt anxious about not being heard or forgetting a line. But the teaching artists assured them that they wouldn’t be forced outside their comfort zone.

“We made it a goal to place students where they would succeed and enjoy the learning process,” said Trondle. “We divided up tasks based on the areas students wanted to work in.” The teaching artists found ways to connect the participants’ career goals to different production roles. One student, Jaden, said one of his passions was voice acting. He ended up serving as the narrator.

“It was a time of creativity and fun,” he shared. “As the week went on, I had the time to think, create, and act.”

As the students began to understand how they could each contribute in their own unique way, they became more eager to help. They were given blueprints to design and construct a set that featured Hansel and Gretel’s home and the Witch’s (or rather, the old man’s) house. They were resourceful and used structures from around their Boys & Girls Club location in the Houston Heights. The teaching artists provided other resources the students needed to make their production a success.

From auditioning to prepping the set to staging the performance, the students’ work all came together. They were finally ready to share their take on Hansel and Gretel with family and friends. The teens performed for 38 peers on June 27 in the game room at their Boys & Girls Club. In addition to the two Humperdinck songs, their show included a rap number and some dance routines.

At the end of the performance, they were beaming. “It was amazing,” said Melanie, who played the Dew Fairy. “I had fun. I was nervous, but I did a good job. I’m proud of myself.”

“I think we should do this again,” said Seth, who played Hansel. Many of the students left the program feeling eager to become more active in the arts at their high schools. This partnership between HGO and BGCGH will continue to inspire community engagement by reaching young audiences through music and educating children and teens about the diversity of opportunities in the arts.