Megan Hodges, a first-year student from Wilmore, Kentucky, is the assistant musical director of Starbird.
			Student-Produced Children’s Opera Features Composer Henry Mollicone As Conductor Photographs and Text by Sue Kropp
	Eric Einhorn directs the opera. Composer Henry Mollicone was in Oberlin last semester during the campus production of his Coyote Tales and for a panel discussion of what it takes to mount a production.		JANUARY 26, 2001--Singing animals, evil robots, and a mystical bird from outer space gather in New York's Central Park to teach children a lesson in friendship during Starbird, a children's opera to be presented on campus next week. Composed by Henry Mollicone and directed by Eric Einhorn, a junior from Holmdel, New Jersey, the free hour-long production runs February 2 and 3 at 8:00 P.M. in Wilder Main. "I wanted to bring opera to a young audience, so last semester I met with Henry Mollicone to talk about possible productions," Einhorn says. "He suggested Starbird, and volunteered to conduct the performance." Starbird tells the story of three animals who have lost their jobs and been replaced by technology. After falling asleep in Central Park, Starbird--a visitor from the planet Arcturus--appears. The animals board her spaceship, only to be confronted by Starbird's robotic captors. The animals eventually deactivate the robots, learning lessons about friendship and teamwork during the struggle. "Obviously, we're asking the audience to suspend their sense of disbelief while watching the opera," says Einhorn. "I would describe the production as a cross between the Grimm Brothers' ' Bremen Town Musicians' and Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey." The opera's set will appeal to children of all ages. Designed by Sarah Wolfman-Robichaud, a senior from Newton, Massachusetts, and Starbird's set designer, the props are mainly two-dimensional and brightly painted. "The set really resembles a big cartoon," Einhorn says. And if the children can't attend the opera, the opera will come to them. Starbird's cast will stage special performances for students at the Oberlin Early Childhood Center (OECC) and Langston Middle School. "Mollicone originally composed the opera for the Houston Grand Opera's Outreach Program," says Einhorn. "We're taking it local, which fits perfectly with Jonathon Field's idea of reaching out to the community and making opera accessible to everyone." (Field is director of the College's Opera Theater Program.) Tara Sievers '99, outreach coordinator for the production, will develop interactive lessons around the opera for students at OECC and Langston. "We want to introduce the kids to opera and show them that it is more accessible than they might have thought," says Einhorn. "Tara's interactive lessons actively engage the kids in the performance. And if that stirs them to a reaction, I'll be happy."
			Adrianne Herman, a sophomore from Houston, rehearses the final scene of Starbird with Jason Batyus, a first-year student from Kettering, Ohio.
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