Desirée Hassler and Colleen Bruton join DR. SEUSS AT THE OPERA at Skokie Theatre

JAM Orchestra is continuing into its 5th illustrious season with something a little different: a family friendly concert of two Dr. Seuss OPERAS!

Dr. Seuss at the Opera will be the first installment of the JAM Orchestra's "Classics for Kids" series. These digestible hour long concerts are designed especially for families and attention spans of children between the ages of 3-9. The already cozy Skokie Theatre will transform into your family's living room and delight you and your guests with colorful characters, perfectly played classical music and exquisitely fun opera singing. This special event is playing one day only at the Skokie Theatre, Saturday October 15, 2022, with two performance times, 10:00 am and 12:00 pm. Skokie Theatre is located at 7924 Lincoln Ave, Skokie, IL. Tickets are now on sale at bit.ly/seussopera and are available for only $10/adult and $5/age under 17.

The delightful program Dr. Seuss at the Opera will feature composer Robert Kapilow's operatic adaptations for 2 Dr. Seuss favorites: Gertrude McFuzz and Green Eggs and Ham. Theodor Seuss Geisel, under the pen name of Dr. Seuss, was an American children's author and cartoonist. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books. His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death in 1991.

The cast features the powerhouse vocals of Desirée Hassler (Lyric Opera of Chicago) and Colleen Bruton (Lyric Theatre @ Illinois). Both have fascinating operatic backgrounds: Desirée has competed at International levels in the Bel Canto Competition in addition to performing at distinguished opera houses throughout the country and Colleen has starred in numerous productions at the Lyric Theatre @ Illinois and has been directed by such greats as Nathan Gunn, Brent Walker, Richard Maltby and David Shire.

Gertrude McFuzz is the classic Dr. Seuss story of the girl-bird who learns to like herself just as she is. The story is presented in a delightfully lively musical style combining jazz, pop, and classical influences. Teaching self-acceptance and how to overcome petty envies and jealousies, Kapilow's fanciful score uses a variety of instrumental timbre to evoke the story's images. Kapilow's version of Green Eggs and Ham has been touted by the Boston Globe to be "... the most popular 'family music' since Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra."

Aaron Kaplan, Artistic Director and conductor of JAM Orchestra says Dr. Seuss at the Opera " ... is the perfect concert to introduce your young one to live entertainment, classical music and singing. The concert will begin with an instrumental introduction, where kids will be introduced to the different instruments in the orchestra. Then they will meet our vocal soloists, and off we go into the colorful, witty and inventive world of Seuss!"

The production team includes Jenilee Houghton (Artistic Director) and Aaron Kaplan (Artistic Director of JAM Orchestra, Conductor). This program is sponsored by a grant through Skokie Theatricals, a 501(c)3 non-for-profit organization. You can learn more about JAM Orchestra here: www.jamorchestra.org/

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