UL Lafayette Opera Theatre presents Hansel and Gretel

The upcoming performance of Hansel and Gretel by the UL Lafayette Opera Theatre and UL Lafayette Symphony Orchestra will be sung in English and will feature an all student cast, along with 28 children from around the Acadiana area. Performance dates are April 19, 20 and 21 at 7PM and April 22 at 3PM in the Ducrest-Gilfry Auditorium in Angelle Hall on the UL Lafayette campus. Tickets are available online at ULopera.brownpapertickets.com. Prices are $20 for the general public, $10 for senior citizens, UL Lafayette alumni and students under 18.  Free for UL Lafayette students, faculty and staff. Call 337-482-6012 for more information. 

Hansel and Gretel is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a fairy-tale opera. The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the Evening Prayer which end the first act. 

The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on "Hansel and Gretel". After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera.

Humperdinck composed Hansel and Gretel in Frankfurt in 1891 and 1892. The opera was first performed in Hoftheater in Weimar on  December 23,1893 conducted by Richard Strauss.

Contact person:  Shawn Roy, 337-482-5939, opera@louisiana.edu