Baylor Opera Theatre huffs, puffs, blows the house down

Baylor Opera Theatre performed Three Little Pigs at Mayborn Museum for kids on Saturday, Oct. 8. Photo courtesy of Baylor Opera Theatre.

By Kaitlin Sides | Reporter

The Baylor Opera Theatre hosted their annual performance at the Mayborn Museum for kids on Saturday. Last year’s performance was “Goldie B. Locks and the Three Singing Bears.” This year’s performance was the “Three Little Pigs.”

Jen Stephenson, Baylor Opera director, said she was most excited to see how the audience would react.

“I think that the audience will really like it. If they’re musicians, they’ll like the music humor,” Stephenson said. “And if they’re little kids, they’ll like the costumes.”

Mayborn Museum workers also helped participate in making the show happen.

Spring junior Rachel Taylor, said she loves working with children and participating in events with the Mayborn museum, especially since she’s an elementary education major.

“I love doing stuff like this for small children, where they get exposed to the arts,” Taylor said. “Even if they’re not fully aware of how much skill and how much time it takes to put in this they get to appreciate the way that this story is in a different format.”

Emily MacDonald, Mayborn Museum engagement coordinator, said she is glad the performance was the “Three Little Pigs” because it was perfect for the museum’s age group.

“Last year we did this performance on a Sunday, this year we are doing it on Saturday so we are hoping to see a few more faces,” MacDonald said. “They’re just great to work with, so it’s been really fun.”

The cast took their performance to Brook Avenue Elementary School and Parkdale Elementary School on Thursday, so the cast got the chance to perform to hundreds of elementary students.

They hosted two showings with two different casts, one at 11 a.m. and one at 1 p.m., and encouraged Baylor students to bring their younger siblings and families to see the performance. Baylor Opera also encouraged the children attending to show up dressed as their favorite fairytale or fable character.

The performance lasted 30 minutes, and was free for Baylor students to attend. The performance was included with the price of the ticket for families. After the show the cast took pictures with the little kids.

As Baylor Opera closes this performance, they will begin to prepare for their main stage opera, “Patients” by Gilbert and Sullivan, that will be performed in February 2023.

Kaitlin Sides is a Junior journalism major with a corporate communications minor. She is excited to be a part of the Lariat TV News staff as a broadcast reporter. In the future she hopes to work as a full time video editor in Charleston, South Carolina, or work for a fashion magazine. When not working, she enjoys spending time at Pinewood Coffee shop or time with her friends!