Six Newcastle children—Evie Rush (8), Amy Rainsforth (9), Ellis Dudman (9), Luke Stephenson (10), Scott Thibuat (11) and Keira O’Connell (11)—will dance in Opera North’s production of Cinderella (La Cenerentola) at the city’s Theatre Royal on 2 and 4 March.
The children, all from the Dudman Academy of Performing Arts and Fitness in Fenham, will perform a specially devised ballroom dancing routine during the overture of Rossini’s comic opera.
Aletta Collins, who directs Cinderella, said, “without giving too much away, I have set this production in a dance school owned by Cinderella’s stepfather. It will open with the children from the Dudman Academy attending a dance class with Cinderella’s two wicked step-sisters, while Cinderella herself stands on the sidelines waiting to begin her daily chores and dreaming of how her life could be—if only things were different.”
In other work with children, Opera North is holding a special schools’ matinée performance of Hansel and Gretel on 2 March. This is the first time that the theatre will have held a matinée especially for local schoolchildren with Opera North and builds on the success of a similar initiative in the Company’s home town of Leeds.
The children will see a full performance of the opera, sung in English, with the action on stage involving hand-held cameras and live video alongside Humperdinck’s music. Tickets cost £6 per pupil and are available from the Box Office on 08448 112121.