The U.S. Premiere of The Firework Maker’s Daughter is happening now at The New Victory Theater in Times Square. The opera is by David Bruce and Glyn Maxwell and based on a novel by Philip Pullman. The Firework Maker’s Daughter is co-produced by The Opera Group and Opera North in association with ROH2 and Watford Palace Theatre from London, England. The next show at The New Victory Theater is on Friday May 10th at 7p with more shows on Saturday May 11th & Sunday May 12th.
I had the opportunity to see the The Firework Maker’s Daughter this past weekend with my almost 8 year old daughter. I was a excited to go but a little worried since I wasn’t sure if an opera could be entertainment for children. But my worry was over once the show started!
The stage was set up to have the 9 musicians from the Metropolis Ensemble visible sitting in the back. While waiting for the show to start we could see musicians tune & warm up their instruments. We also noticed there was not much scenery on stage and there were overhead projectors which we thought were interesting for an opera.
The show starts and we see the purpose of the projectors right away and are hooked! There is a ensemble of five talented opera singers and also overhead projectors, sand, water, colored cellophane and flashlights to create lots of shadow puppets, fireworks & other special effects which help to tell the story.
We really enjoyed the show and don’t want to give it all away but some of our favorite parts were Hamlet’s ‘advertisements’ and how love sick he was, the pirate-chef, the funny king and the firework shows were so creative. The audience gets to participate too.
The performance is 2 hours with one intermission and aimed for children ages 8 years and older. My daughter is 8 years old this summer and she agreed that it was good for children her age but she didn’t think her little brother (he is 5 next month) would do well with sitting for that length. Plus there are some ‘creepy’ parts like skeletons that had died in volcano lava that little children might not enjoy.
A tip that I wanted to share is that if you are not familiar with the story there is a synopsis in the handbill which explains the story and recommend reading prior to the show starting with your child(ren). The New Victory Theater is very child friendly with kid snacks at intermission and they can even deliver them to your seat if you pre-order. They also have boosters to hand out if your child needs it.
Go see The Firework Maker’s Daughter at The New Victory Theater and be prepared to be enchanted and amazed and also have a chance to open a whole new world of music to your child(ren). It was so fun to educate my daughter about sopranos, baritones and conductors.
ABOUT THE FIREWORK MAKER’S DAUGHTER:
A girl called Lila wants to become a firework maker, just like her father Lalchand. Her father believes this is an unsuitable job for girls. Lila disagrees, and runs away to get Royal Sulphur from Razvani the Fire-Fiend at Mount Merapi since all aspirant firework-makers must do.
Her quest is nearly unsuccessful, because she does not have protection from the Fire-Fiend’s flames or the Three Gifts to present to Razvani. However, her friends Hamlet, a talking love sick white elephant, and Chulak, an elephant keeper, get the water of the Goddess of the Emerald Lake and deliver it to Lila to save her from the fire. And she can’t present the Three Gifts, because she doesn’t know what the Three Gifts are.
She heads home and she learns that her father has been in prison for the disappearance of Hamlet. To save his life, Lila and Lalchand must win the upcoming competition for the Firework Festival against other talented firework makers. Upon their victory, Lila learns what the Three gifts are and that she had them with her on the journey the whole time.
New Victory Theater is located at 209 West 42nd Street. Seats in the Balcony start at $14 ($9 with Member discount) and go up to $38 ($25 for Members) in the Orchestra section. See the Theater website for showtimes and to buy tickets.
(Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets to review the show but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own)