H. M. S. Pinafore at UNC-Greensboro

Last Thursday, my students, my principal as the bus driver, 2 chaperones, and myself took a trip to UNCG to see a performance of Gillbert and Sullivan's H. M. S. Pinafore. Before the performance, I fully prepped students in hopes they would gain more appreciation opera as an art form. I told of the range of voices in the opera, the different parts (aria and recititive-that is a fun word to say, so I made them say it.) I told them the difference between a play, musical, and an opera. And of course, I gave them a test. They had to tell me what the opera was about after it was over. They could care less. They were just happy to be missing out of their academic duties at school, nevermind they would be responsible for making up their work. They are lucky they got almost a full day. We sang carols and many other songs on the way over and back to Reidsville. When we arrived, they were several things going on that day. There was a show playing next door to the performance we were supposed to see. When I got off the bus, I was told to send my bus driver to the Greensboro Colliseum. Just my luck, they send my principal to some place he can't see the performance. Thankfully, David Holley, the director, was able to save the day and have someone retrieve him.

Everyone from my crew( hehe) enjoyed the performance tremendously. I thought the shipmates greeting us when we came in were wonderful. All the girls especially enjoyed the ladies' costumes. The set was neatly done. I ran into Brian Hodges, an awesome cellist. I showed my students the orchestra pit, which they were amazed by. We had wonderful seats in the orchestra section. I really enjoyed the music. Some tunes were rather catchy! I am also glad they had the words up on the screen above the stage. Some of the words were hard to catch, although the voices were beautiful. When we arrived on the bus, I was really suprised how the children remembered several of the characters names and the main plot of the story. I guess they past the test and gained some appreciation along the way. (Another teaching success story!) As for me, this was the concert/performance I had been longing for since my college days.