Call It Operation Opera

A plant from outer space, a love-struck bird catcher and an evil witch transformed the Mound Elementary School cafeteria into a world of myth, magic and music on a recent October morning.

More than 500 children sat captivated while the Ventura College Opera Workshop performed songs and scenes from well-known musicals such as “Hansel and Gretel” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

For six weeks this fall, the college students brought their program, “Fabulous Fridays at the Opera,” to schools throughout Ventura County. Altogether, about 6,000 youths--in kindergarten through 12th grade--watched one of the opera performances.

The musical shows came at a time when arts education is not a priority in county schools, despite widespread research that it improves student achievement. So with a scarcity of art and music programs in schools, local groups such as the Ventura College Opera Workshop are doing whatever they can to bring culture to the classroom.

“The kids just love it,” said Linda Ottsen, who has taught music at Ventura College for 10 years and started the workshop last year. “They’re just yearning for this. They don’t get enough of this in the schools.”

Schools paid $400 for one 45-minute performance or $600 for two, but could apply for grants to cut the cost by $200. The workshop presented one show at the elementary schools, and another at the middle and high schools. The one for the older students included excerpts from “Madame Butterfly,” “Miss Saigon,” “La Boheme” and “Rent.”

During the recent performance, dozens of elementary students squirmed and said, “eeew” when bird catcher Papageno kissed his true love in “The Magic Flute.” They giggled when a witch with a painted black tooth chased Hansel and Gretel off the stage.

And they danced along when the human plant waved his leaves and sang in “Little Shop of Horrors.”

“You don’t know what you’re messing with, but I am gonna tell you now,” David Douglas sang from his gigantic cardboard pot. “I’m just a mean green mother from outer space and I’m bad.”

Narrator Erin Young, 19, said she loves to watch the children’s expressions and reactions to the songs, dances and costumes. “I think there is a real demand for kids to see how awesome music is,” said Young, covered in sparkles and dressed in a purple and gold genie outfit. “It opens them up to a whole new world of arts and music.”

Young, one of about 30 students in the opera workshop, is in her second year at Ventura College, and plans to transfer to a four-year university to major in musical theater.

Her classmate, Karen Sonnenschein, works full time for a mortgage lender, but spent her vacation days performing with the opera workshop. Sonnenschein said she loves being on stage, both to entertain and teach the students.

“It’s so fun because it’s all new to them,” said Sonnenschein, who played the witch. “They are having fun and they are learning. And they just sit there in wonderment.”

After the performance, she signed autographs for several children. Third-grader Isabel Halpern, 8, said the witch was her favorite. “When she had the broom and was flying around, she was really funny,” said the freckled Isabel.

Eleven-year-old Daniel Olmsted liked the dancing and singing plant best. Daniel, who sings in the school chorus, wants to perform in musicals when he gets older. But he said he would have to practice a lot so he wouldn’t have stage fright.

Nancy Kellogg, a fifth-grade teacher at Mound, said musical performances have a tremendous impact on her students. “This is just a fabulous experience for them,” she said. “It’s something they can aspire to.”

FYI

There will be a public performance at Ventura College today at 2:30 p.m. For more information, call 654-6459.