Church to stage ‘Hansel and Gretel’ Dec. 18-19

BETHLEHEM — A magical opera in English for all ages — “Hansel and Gretel” — promises to be a unique holiday choice in Bethlehem.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Osborne of Litchfield has decades of experience, including singing with major opera companies in the United States and Europe. She has shared the stage with such opera greats as Beverly Sills, Robert Merrill, Samuel Ramey, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti.

Osborne initially offered two operas that she could present at Christ Episcopal Church in Bethlehem for the holiday: “Amahl and the Night Visitors”, and “Hansel and Gretel.”

She decided that “Hansel and Gretel”, an opera by 19th century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper (fairy tale opera), was better known by Americans.

The event will be held at 3 p.m. Dec. 18-19 at Christ Church, 18 Main St. on the Bethlehem Green.

The German libretto was written by Humperdinck’s sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel.”

The opera was immediately popular in Germany and the Metropolitan Opera’s first complete radio broadcast of an opera was of Hansel and Gretel, on Christmas Day 1931. It was also the first opera to be broadcast in full on television.

This was Osborne’s first time presenting this icon of an opera, and she enlisted longtime friends William Lavonis, of Savannah, Georgia, playing the witch, and Tamara Cashour of New York City as the pianist. There is also a roster of talented singers who cover every voice type in the opera, dressed in costume, and singing in English.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children and can be purchased at Eventbrite.

Jo-Ann Jaacks / Contributed photo Jennifer Johnson Osborne at the piano near her studio in Litchfield.