Three little pigs, all grown up, are faced with the reality that it’s time to move out of their mother’s house and build their own homes. A house made of straw. A house made of sticks. A house made of bricks. A big, bad wolf. Huffing and puffing. Houses blown down. But there’s more than one way to tell this fable — and how comical this one was! Classic sibling antics — two jokester brothers pulling pranks on their bookworm sister. A big, bad wolf taunting two of the pigs as he pretends to be a statue. Pigs taking selfies. A dramatic final scene where the big, bad wolf meets his demise and the pigs learn the moral of the story: When you find a thing that’s scary, take your question to the library! What a pleasure it was to watch the Spartanburg Repertory Opera bring to life this “rib-tickling opera” as they performed The Three Little Pigs!
I love when I find the times in this job where things have come full circle. When I was teaching, one of my most favorite reading units was when we examined different folk tales and fairy tales, comparing them to one another and examining the different perspectives of the characters depending on whose point of view they were told from. At the end of February, as I photographed Spartanburg Repertory Opera’s final dress rehearsal of John Davies’ The Three Little Pigs, I kept thinking about how many different ways the show could have been used as part of that unit! What can I say — once a teacher, always a teacher! 🙂
To all the cast and crew of The Three Little Pigs — thank you so much for inviting me once again to be part of your season by being able to capture your educational outreach program! It was such a treat to have a preview of another one of your fantastic shows, and I was definitely laughing out loud from behind my camera during so many of the scenes! As always, thank you for your contributions to the arts community in Spartanburg and for the work you do to bring arts outreach to local schools!
The Creative Team
Venue: Chapman Cultural Center | Stage Director: Aimée Dumouchel Gans | Music Director: Mildred Roche (piano) | Backstage Manager: Emily Roche | Lighting Design: Peter Lamson | Set Design: Chipley Bennett | Technical Assistant: Leilani Fisher | Actors: Anna Grace Bennett (Despina/Narrator), Dylan Hooper (Don Giovanni), Sherami Harris (Cherubino), John Roche (Wolfgang Bigbad)
