The Brothers Grimm
What's it all about?
The brothers in question are Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, two aspiring writers who are currently working below their pay grade as dictionary researchers. One day the brothers are solicited by a colleague Brentano to write a book full of folk tales and campfire stories. So the brothers start on an adventure to liberate stories from their friends and acquaintances! Through their travels they collect three key stories. Dortchen, a young maid besotted by Wilhelm, provides them with the seed for Rapunzel, shop-keeper Frau Viehmann introduces the moral tale of Little Red Cap and the narcoleptic Colonel Krause spins them the tale of Rumpelstiltskin.
How can I see this production? The Brothers Grimm is currently touring across Ontario with Hansel and Gretel for the Xstrata Ensemble Studio School Tour and can be seen this December during GrimmFest, which runs from December 4 - 8. The Brothers Grimm will be performed on December 7 and 8 at Daniels Spectrum (formerly Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre). Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for children and can be purchased online or on the phone.
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Our Ensemble Studio is on tour across Ontario this month performing Hansel and Gretel and The Brothers Grimm. But did you know that The Brothers Grimm is celebrating its 500th performance next month during GrimmFest?
The popular children's opera was created by Dean Burry, a composer born and raised in Newfoundland. Holding a master's degree in composition, Burry started his career at the Canadian Opera Company as a Ticket Services representative. He quickly found his way to the Education department where he started the COC’s popular After School Opera Program in 1997 – a program he still runs today. In 1999, Burry was commissioned to create The Brothers Grimm and it debuted two years later. The opera was a hit and has been performed across Canada, the US and had its European debut last spring.
What first interested you in The Brothers Grimm?
In 1997 I was working in the box office when the education co-ordinator did a staff chat on Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, which was programmed for the following season. The opera chat was interesting, but what I found most fascinating was that while everyone knew the Grimm's fairy tales almost no one knew who the Grimm Brothers were.
Posted by Danielle D'Ornellas / in Xstrata Ensemble Studio School Tour / comments (1) / permalink
Posted by Danielle D'Ornellas / in Behind the Scenes / comments (0) / permalink
Sara Fulgoni in the COC production of Bluebeard's Castle. Photo: Michael Cooper © 2001