Oct. 30 – Nov. 14, 2026
Sarasota Opera House
Sarasota, Florida – USA
Engelbert HUMPERDINCK: Hansel and Gretel
Anthony Barrese, conductor; Felicity Stiverson, stage director and choreographer; Engelbert Humperdinck, composer; Adelheid Wette, librettist; English singing translation by Cori Ellison. Cast: Kara Morgan (Hansel), Kerrigan Bigelow (Gretel), Lisa Chavez (Witch), Lindsey Polcyn (Gertrud), Spencer Reichman (Peter), Sarah Stembel (Dew Fairy), Kira Neary (Sandman). Creative: E. Loren Meeker and Felicity Stiverson, original production; Nora Winsler, associate director; Steven C. Kemp, scenic designer; Howard Tsvi Kaplan, costume designer; Ken Yunker, lighting designer. Sarasota Opera production.
Kurt Loft | 4 NOV 2026
The brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, famous for more than 200 folk tales, legends and mythologies, lived up to their surname, as much of their work bends toward the dark and sinister. The original story of Hansel & Gretel, a young brother and sister prepped for baking in a witch’s oven, was a morality play pivoting on themes of starvation, alcoholism, child neglect and cannibalism.
The Sarasota Opera opened its 2026-27 season with Engelbert Humperdinck’s beloved adaptation — with the gentler, family friendly libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette — the first of six rotating productions through March in the 100-year-old Sarasota Opera House. The lineup includes Rootabaga Country, La Traviata, HMS Pinafore, Ariadne auf Naxos and Jenůfa.
This production marks the first-ever mainstage collaboration between Sarasota Opera and Sarasota Ballet School Conservatory, creating an artistic alliance for young people to explore. It also is the first season without longtime music director Victor DeRenzi, who held the podium for 44 years and specialized in all 27 Verdi operas, including rare alternatives and revisions.
The Nov. 1 performance succeeded on multiple fronts, much to the delight of families with children in the audience. Visiting conductor Anthony Barrese — who appeared here for Hansel & Gretel in 2010 — led a lush and alert Sarasota Opera Orchestra over two fast-paced hours. Barrese aligned his musicians with each motion on stage while bathing the audience in luscious Wagnerian textures, German folk tunes and nursery rhymes. Although a Märchenoper (fairy tale opera), the score “contains some of the most deeply complex music I’ve ever worked on,” Barrese said.
Mezzo Kara Morgan as Hansel and soprano Kerrigan Bigelow as Gretel reveled in their playful roles, physically nimble and vocally ripe, projecting each line with ease through the 1,120-seat theater. Mezzo Lindsey Polcyn as the mother and baritone Spencer Reichman as the father delivered heart-felt arias on the reality of hunger and poverty and their fatigued view of life countered the children’s starry-eyed innocence.
Kudos to stage director and choreographer Felicity Stiverson for the hypnotic dream sequence in Act II, unfolding in slow motion as the family celebrates a lavish turkey dinner in a surreal, half-speed dance. Sarah Stembel as the Dew Fairy hushed the house with her misty Act III aria that awakens the children in the forest, and we relish any role she brings back to Sarasota. Mezzo Lisa Chavez as the malevolent Witch sated the need for nastiness with her richly textured voice, imposing stage presence and piercing shrieks. She also milked the puns and comic darts of Cori Ellison’s English translations for all they were worth, including “Hansel’s deep in slumber, at any rate — that helps the fat cells propagate!” ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Sarasota Opera: sarasotaopera.org
- Anthony Barrese: anthonybarrese.com
- Felicity Stiverson: felicitystiverson.com
- Kara Morgan: kmorganmezzo.com
- Kerrigan Bigelow: santafeopera.org
- Lisa Chavez: lisachavez.com
Read more by Kurt Loft.
.png){kind=logo}