Opera Kansas brings ‘Twister’ back to Exploration Place
Opera Kansas hopes its staging of “Mr. Twister and the Tale of Tornado Alley” this week at Exploration Place will give young audiences a two-for-one deal.
It can educate them about severe weather while giving them their first exposure to opera, executive director Matt Schloneger said.
“It’s very accessible and fun,” said Schloneger, who is directing the dozen performances from Tuesday through Friday. “Kids may have a certain impression of opera – that it’s stuffy and inaccessible. This is a light, fun, accessible kids show with a good message. They can realize this is fun and entertaining. We hope they’ll also hear these people singing in operatic voices without microphones and they’ll also be inspired to create a new generation of opera lovers.”
“Mr. Twister” started brewing in 2018 as an entry in the Zepick Modern Opera Commission and was scheduled to debut in March 2020.
Delayed by the pandemic, it finally got its first performances at Exploration Place in the spring of 2022.
A grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission funded the performances, including two evening dates this week.
“We’re excited to do it for a longer run so a lot of kids will be able to see it,” Schloneger said. “This is an amazing show and it’s so fitting for Kansas. We need to do it more than just twice.”
The four-character opera is double-cast.
In the opera, Mr. Twister (Jordan Roth and Logan Tarwater), a meteorologist and storm chaser, instructs his niece, Bobbie (Hope Ewy and Kyndall Carson) about tornadoes and storm safety.
Meanwhile, the North Wind (Carter Tholl and Ellen Sudarshan) and South Wind (Morgan Buie Johnson and Michelle Monroe) are meeting up.
“They decide to take a vacation and see each other in Kansas,” Schloneger said.
Besides three daytime performances from Tuesday through Friday, there will also be an Opera Kansas VIP performance, with no museum admission but a freewill donation, Tuesday night; and an Exploration Place
members night on Thursday night.
The performances are part of a busy spring for Opera Kansas, including two performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore” June 1-2 at Mary Jane Teall Theatre in Century II during Riverfest; and its first soiree fundraiser, June 8 at Grace Hill Winery.
“We’re having a really big end to the year,” Schloneger said.
‘MR. TWISTER AND THE TALE OF TORNADO ALLEY’ BY OPERA KANSAS
When: 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, May 14-17; also performances at 6 p.m. Tuesday and 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Exploration Place, 300 N. McLean Blvd.
Tickets: Daytime shows free with museum admission