The Little Prince, By Rachel Portman
Mar. 02, 2009
Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033
Based on the children's classic Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry
The University of North Alabama
Opera Theatre, Collegiate Singers, and Orchestra
Dr. Suzanne Galer, Director
Dr. Ian Loeppky, conductor
Norton Auditorium
Friday and Saturday, January 31, 2009
Tickets: $10.00 Adults $5.00 Students, Children and Seniors
If you tame me we'll need each other. I'll be the only fox in the world for you. But, since there are no stores where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed. Here's my secret…anything essential is invisible to the eyes." The Fox, The Little Prince
"My mother was an elementary school teacher" says Dr. Suzanne Galer, director of the University of North Alabama production of The Little Prince. "I was raised on a steady diet of The Velveteen Rabbit, The Giving Tree, The Phantom Tollbooth, and other allegories with life applications. Of all the operas I have directed , (there have been over thirty), The Little Prince is my favorite. There is no infidelity, it's in English, and the opera has many beautiful philosophies and messages for children and adults alike.
Dr. Galer is the new director of Vocal Activities at the University of North Alabama and The Little Prince features the Opera Workshop, The Collegiate Singers directed by Dr. Ian Loeppky, and members of the Shoals Symphony at the University of North Alabama trained by Viljar Weiman. Dr. Loeppky will be the conductor for the performances on Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31 at 7:30 PM in Norton Auditorium.
There is community involvement in the cast including UNA Alumni artist Jason Allen in the role of the pilot. Exupéry himself was actually a pilot. Amy Smith is a faculty artist from UNA and also works at David Christopher's of Florence. Mrs. Louise McCoy has been the chief pianist for rehearsals and will also play with the orchestra.
Many students are serving in leadership roles including Cody McCoy, choreographer, and Rebecca Cantrell, scenic designer.
The cast sings the echoing choral phrase daily…. , "One sees clearly only with the heart." This is a production where many people unite as one, serving as the Lamplighter "because he is thinking of something besides himself."
Cast List
The Prince…….Hanna Crumrine
The Pilot………Jason Allen
The Rose………Sarah Cunningham
The King………Alex Owens
The Vain Man ….Zach Cleghorn
The Drunk……..Kyle Trapp
The Businessman…Xavier Frye
The Lamplighter…..Amy Smith
The Snake……..Mark Anderson
The Fox……….Julie Rich
Water…………Bliss Savell
The Rose Garden…..Grace Ashley, Julie Rich, Katie Cockrell
Baobobs and Hunters…..Shempei Goto, Atsunori Ikeda, Kyle Trapp, Zach Cleghorn, Xavier Frye
The Stars, The Cranes…..Collegiate Singers
Conductor: Dr. Ian Loeppky
Techology : Alice Gross
Orchestra
Rehearsal and Orchestral Pianist……..Louise McCoy
1st Violin….Daniel Lee
1st Flute…….Stephanie Christmas
2nd Flute……Ann Hendron
Clarinet……Kella Jackson
Oboe……Droo McGinnis
French Horn…..William Morgan
Viola………….Kate Hunt
Cello………….Patsy Jordan
Double Bass…..Sarah Freed
Trumpet……..Jennifer Gauldin
Trombone ……John Andrew Robbins
Percussion……Justin Iadonisi
Philosophies from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry
The Prince, Hanna Crumrine
What moved the pilot about the prince was his loyalty to a flower, the image of a rose shining within him like a lamp, even when he was asleep.
The Rose, Sarah Cunningham
It's the time you've spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.
The Pilot, Jason Allen
Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.
The Stars, The SSA Ensemble
When you look up at the sky at night, I'll be laughing on one of them, for you it will be as though all the stars are laughing. At night I love listening to the stars. It's like five hundred million little bells.
The Baobobs, Alex Owen, Kyle Trapp, Zach Cleghorn, Shempei Goto, Xavier Frye, Atsunori Ikeda
Tend your planet, pull up the Baobobs regularly."
The Roses, Grace Ashley, Julie Rich, Katie Cockrell
People grow five thousand roses in one garden and yet they don't find what they are looking for."
The Cranes, The SSA Ensemble
In order to make his escape I believe he took advantage of a migration of wild birds.
The King, Alex Owen
The prince didn't realize that for kings, the world is extremely simplified: All men are subjects.
The Vain Man, Zach Cleghorn
To admire means to acknowledge that I am the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on the planet."
The Businessman, Xavier Frye
Grown-ups like numbers, they never ask, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he like best? Does he collect butterflies?
The Lamplighter, Amy Smith
The lamplighter is the only one who doesn't strike me as ridiculous. Perhaps it is because he is thinking of something besides himself.
The Snake, Marc Anderson
"It s a little lonely in the desert" said the Prince. "It's also lonely with people" said the snake.
The Fox, Julie Rich
If you tame me we'll need each other. I'll be the only fox in the world for you. But, since there are no stores where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed. Here's my secret…anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
Water, Bliss Savell
Water can also be good for the heart….thus the water was more than a drink…it was born of our walk beneath the stars.
About The University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.