Meet Mr. Porcupine From OPERA San Antonio's Production of FANTASTIC MR. FOX

By: OPERA San Antonio

It's almost here! On September 23 the curtain rises on the debut production of OPERA San Antonio. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a performance you'll want to bring the whole family to see. Based on the popular children's book by Roald Dahl about a brave and clever fox who outwits his enemies to save his family and friends, the opera features the music of Tobias Picker, who has been dubbed "our finest composer for the lyric stage" by The Wall Street Journal.

This brand-new production features a talented large cast including singers like the sought-after baritone John Brancy in the title role, the acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Futral, and the countertenor Andrey Nemzer, who just won third prize in the prestigious 2014 Operalia Competition run by Plácido Domingo.

Another bright young talent is the tenor Theo Lebow, who has a very special relationship with Fantastic Mr. Fox. It goes back to the opera's world premiere at Los Angeles Opera in 1998 (over a decade before the Wes Anderson film based on the same source). Just 12 years old at the time of the premiere, Lebow created the role of Lennie Foxcub, one of the four fox cubs who are part of the close-knit family Mr. Fox is desperate to protect. His voice has since blossomed into a beautiful tenor. For OPERA San Antonio's production Lebow will perform the role of Mr. Porcupine, one of the friends Mr. Fox also helps, arole originally created by Charles Castronovo, now an internationally renowned tenor.

"I'm looking forward to coming back and being in a different role than I was the first time," said Lebow, who will also enjoy a reunion with Elizabeth Futral. She sings the lonely Miss Hedgehog, a creature who believes she's doomed to being single until she meets Mr. Porcupine and sparks fly. The two artists were in the same cast this past summer at Opera Theatre of St. Louis for the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's 27, a new work about Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas (sung by Elizabeth Futral) and their select circle of friends in Paris.

Lebow said, "In Fantastic Mr. Fox, my first entrance is an especially fun way to establish the character of Mr. Porcupine: high notes galore, when he comes out of a drunken stupor from enjoying the cider stored up by one of the farmers. Tobias is able to differentiate this large cast of characters and has a real sense of fun with mine."

How frightening was it to be a kid onstage for a high-profile world premiere when the opera was first produced in 1998? Lebow said, "We had had so much preparation, and all four of us [the fox cubs] had been singing in children's choruses. I had been with the L.A. Children's Chorus for a few years and had already sung in operas. For example, I'd been one of the boys in The Magic Flute."

Lebow, who was born and raised in Santa Monica, said he was fortunate to grow up in a musical family. "My dad is a cellist and has substituted with L.A. Opera and teaches at Pomona College. My parents had tons of albums, so I grew up listening to a lot of recordings of classical music."

It was the chance to perform professionally as a child that made Lebow decide to follow a career as a singer. He's already tallied some pretty impressive successes. This past summer he created the roles of Picasso and F. Scott Fitzgerald in 27 (he was featured with other cast members on the cover of Opera News). Lebow was a member of San Francisco Merola Opera and other young artist programs. He will take on the major role of Jupiter/Apollo in Handel'sSemele at Seattle Opera later this season.

Even though he was bitten by the opera bug as a kid, Lebow pointed out thatFantastic Mr. Fox "is very much an opera for adults as well. Both Tobias and [librettist] Donald Sturrock were able to create these characters for the stage and bring them to a level we can identify with in more subtle ways."

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