Opera on tour for young audience

Thousands of Kiwi parents could find their children ditching Taylor Swift for Luciano Pavarotti if a New Zealand tour hits the right notes.

The New Zealand Opera’s (NZO) Opera in Schools programme kicked off a threecentre tour in Christchurch on Monday in a continued bid to make opera more accessible to young people.

About 400 children from four schools packed out the Charles Luney Auditorium at St Margaret’s College for a rendition of Donizetti’s 19th century classic Don Pasquale.

The performance had been customised for the younger audience. More than 40 people would usually hit the stage for a two-hour show, but five performers – including one teacher volunteer – had it whittled down to about 45 minutes.

One man replaced an entire orchestra, English replaced Italian and the show was littered with pop culture references including one character’s brief attempt at belting out famed song Let it Go from Disney’s Frozen, before being silenced by fellow cast members.

‘‘[The set] will break down into 10 pieces and then it all just fits into the back of a Transit van . . . It’s got all these bits to it that kids can look at and go ‘Oh that’s quite clever’,’’ the show’s director, Jacqueline Coats, said.

Such innovations would allow the company to hit Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland during the six-week tour, performing for more than 20 schools in Greater Christchurch alone.

For Coats, who had travelled with Opera in Schools for the past three years, the aim of the tour was simple.

‘‘It’s about making audiences for the future.

‘‘The experiences you have at school, especially when you’re at primary school, really influence the things you do in the rest of your life.

‘‘We’ve heard of kids who have gone home and said to their parents ‘Can we get the CD of the opera we just listened to?’ … I think if I can instil a love of opera in children that will carry on into their adult lives, then that’s a big win.’’

Those involved in the tour were drawn from the company’s production of The Mikado, which just finished showing at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch.