Celebrate Hope and the Power of Community with BRUNDIBÁR

A Children’s Opera by Hans Krása and Adolf Hoffmeister

The Story

Aninka and Pepicek go to the market to get some milk for their sick mother. As they don’t have any money, they decide to follow the example of the organ grinder, Brundibár – people throw coins in his hat when he makes music. Aninka and Pepicek sing their favorite song but nobody listens to them. When they try to draw attention to themselves, they are chased away from the market for being a nuisance. Aninka and Pepicek don’t know what to do. How can they sing louder than the bad old organ grinder with their small voices? At this cue, a dog, a cat, and a sparrow are on the spot and promise to help. The next morning, the animals round up all the children in town and make a large choir. The plan succeeds: their singing is louder than the barrel organ, the people listen, and soon Pepicek’s cap is full of coins. Suddenly, Brundibár appears, grabs the cap from Pepicek, and tries to run away with the money. However, he is only one against many and he does´t stand a chance. The children celebrate their victory and the choir sings of friendship and support for each other. [Boosey & Hawkes]

The Surrounding Story

While originally created as an entry for a Czechoslovakian child opera competition in 1938-39, BRUNDIBÁR by Hans Krása and Adolf Hoffmeister became particularly famous through the role it played in the concentration camp Terezín. It helped to make the tragic fate of the prisoners more human and bearable – both of those who played in the opera and of those who went to see
the more than fifty performances of it.

Having been smuggled through checkpoints, a copy of the opera was given to Krása—already a resident in Terezín—for which he composed a new score based upon his knowledge of available instruments and musicians. The famous first night of BRUNDIBÁR in Terezín took place on September 23, 1943 in the hall of Magdeburg barracks. The opera would eventually be performed during the inspection of the International Red Cross on June 23, 1944 and its Finale—the children’s song of victory— filmed by the Nazis as proof of the “beautiful life” in the “resort town of Terezin.” – Blanka Cervinková

The opera has continued to be produced in a variety of venues around the world. Most notably, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and renowned children’s illustrator/writer Maurice Sendak collaborated on a new English production of BRUNDIBÁR which premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in 2005 and enjoyed an Off-Broadway run at the New Victory
Theater in New York the following year.

Our Production

Cary Academy’s production of BRUNDIBÁR will open the door for many cross-curricular collaborations. We are particularly excited about the opportunity to work with World Languages, as we are considering presenting the opera in German. Should we move forward with this approach, performers will not be required to have previous experience with the German language prior to
the start of the rehearsal process.

Performance Dates

February 11-13, 2016.