The Atlanta Opera will present Mozart’s The Magic Flute in performance at the Center for Puppetry Arts this January. The four special performances are part of The Atlanta Opera’s Studio Tour, which brings abridged operas to schools and community venues across Georgia each season. The Tour is directed and performed by artists of The Atlanta Opera Studio, the company’s artist-in-residence program. The Studio Tour reaches more than 12,500 students annually. In October 2017, the Studio Tour toured The Magic Flute across the Atlanta-metro area and will run again across the state in January and May 2018. All performances are completely booked for the season.
The Magic Flute tells the story of Prince Tamino and his quest to rescue the beautiful Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night. Tamino is assisted by Papageno, a bird catcher. When the Queen turns out to be the real villain, Tamino and Pamina choose instead to take the trials necessary to enter the temple of Sarastro. With the help of a magic flute, Tamino and Pamina triumph and find love with each other.
Studio Artist Brenna Corner (who will direct the upcoming Carmen on the mainstage) has adapted The Opera’s new version of The Magic Flute for family and student audiences. She directs the cast led by four of her fellow Studio Artists. Justin Stolz (fresh from his performance as Steuermann in the mainstage production of The Flying Dutchman) sings the role of Tamino. Christopher Dunham sings the role of Papageno. Bryn Holdsworth sings the role of Pamina, and Gina Perregrino performs the role of Papagena. The Studio artists are joined by Allen Michael Jones as Sarastro and Jessica Dennison as The Queen of the Night. Valerie Pool, a second-year member of the Studio Artist program, is Music Director and Pianist for the production.
This exciting and imaginative Studio Tour production incorporates refurbished puppets created for the mainstage production of The Magic Flute in 2010 at Cobb Energy Centre. These puppets, which serve as Papageno’s birds and the Spirits, were designed by Lisa Sturz of Red Herring Puppets. In addition, Jason Hines, Resident Puppet Builder for the Center for Puppetry Arts, designed new Sarastro, Queen of the Night, and Dragon puppets for the production. The Center’s Artistic Director, Jon Ludwig, served as Puppetry Consultant and helped teach the artists to work with puppets prior to the start of the tour. Each singer also serves as a puppeteer in all performances.
The Atlanta Opera will present Mozart’s The Magic Flute in performance at the Center for Puppetry Arts on Saturday, January 13 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Sunday, January 14 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The program will be approximately fifty-five minutes in length with no intermissions. Tickets may be purchased at www.atlantaopera.org or through The Atlanta Opera ticket office at 404-881-8885. Tickets are $20 and seating is general admission. Performed in English.
For anyone attending The Magic Flute, the Center for Puppetry is offering a 25% discount on tickets to the Worlds of Puppetry Museum and the Create-A-Puppet Workshop™. The Museum is home to the largest collection of Jim Henson puppets and props in the world. Discounted tickets will be available at the Center’s Ticker Sales Office on the day of the performance.
*Cover Photo: The Magic Flute, 2010, Cobb Energy Centre by Jeff Roffman Photography