The Little Prince, by Rachel Portman

Jan. 21, 2009

Based on the children’s classic Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry

The University of North Alabama

Tickets: $10.00 Adults $5.00 Students, Children and Seniors

If you tame me we’ll need each other. I’ll be the only fox in the world for you. But, since there are no stores where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed. Here’s my secret…anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” The Fox, The Little Prince

“My mother was an elementary school teacher” says Dr. Suzanne Galer, director of the University of North Alabama production of The Little Prince. “I was raised on a steady diet of The Velveteen Rabbit, The Giving Tree, The Phantom Tollbooth, and other allegories with life applications. Of all the operas I have directed , (there have been over thirty), The Little Prince is my favorite. There is no infidelity, it’s in English, and the opera has many beautiful philosophies and messages for children and adults alike.

Dr. Galer is the new director of Vocal Activities at the University of North Alabama and The Little Prince features the Opera Workshop, The Collegiate Singers directed by Dr. Ian Loeppky, and members of the Shoals Symphony at the University of North Alabama trained by Viljar Weiman. Dr. Loeppky will be the conductor for the performances on Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31 at 7:30 PM in Norton Auditorium.

There is community involvement in the cast including UNA Alumni artist Jason Allen in the role of the pilot. Exupéry himself was actually a pilot. Amy Smith is a faculty artist from UNA and also works at David Christopher’s of Florence. Mrs. Louise McCoy has been the chief pianist for rehearsals and will also play with the orchestra.

Many students are serving in leadership roles including Cody McCoy, choreographer, and Rebecca Cantrell, scenic designer.

The cast sings the echoing choral phrase daily…. , “One sees clearly only with the heart.” This is a production where many people unite as one, serving as the Lamplighter “because he is thinking of something besides himself.”

Cast List

The Prince…….Hanna Crumrine

The Pilot………Jason Allen

The Rose………Sarah Cunningham

The King………Alex Owens

The Vain Man ….Zach Cleghorn

The Drunk……..Kyle Trapp

The Businessman…Xavier Frye

The Lamplighter…..Amy Smith

The Snake……..Mark Anderson

The Fox……….Julie Rich

Water…………Bliss Savell

The Rose Garden…..Grace Ashley, Julie Rich, Katie Cockrell

Baobobs and Hunters…..Shempei Goto, Atsunori Ikeda, Kyle Trapp, Zach Cleghorn, Xavier Frye

The Stars, The Cranes…..Collegiate Singers

Conductor: Dr. Ian Loeppky

Techology : Alice Gross

Orchestra

Rehearsal and Orchestral Pianist……..Louise McCoy

1st Violin….Daniel Lee

1st Flute…….Stephanie Christmas

2nd Flute……Ann Hendron

Clarinet……Kella Jackson

Oboe……Droo McGinnis

French Horn…..William Morgan

Viola………….Kate Hunt

Cello………….Patsy Jordan

Double Bass…..Sarah Freed

Trumpet……..Jennifer Gauldin

Trombone ……John Andrew Robbins

Percussion……Justin Iadonisi

Philosophies from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry

The Prince, Hanna Crumrine

What moved the pilot about the prince was his loyalty to a flower, the image of a rose shining within him like a lamp, even when he was asleep.

The Rose, Sarah Cunningham

It’s the time you’ve spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.

The Pilot, Jason Allen

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.

The Stars, The SSA Ensemble

When you look up at the sky at night, I’ll be laughing on one of them, for you it will be as though all the stars are laughing. At night I love listening to the stars. It’s like five hundred million little bells.

The Baobobs, Alex Owen, Kyle Trapp, Zach Cleghorn, Shempei Goto, Xavier Frye, Atsunori Ikeda

Tend your planet, pull up the Baobobs regularly.”

The Roses, Grace Ashley, Julie Rich, Katie Cockrell

People grow five thousand roses in one garden and yet they don’t find what they are looking for.”

The Cranes, The SSA Ensemble

In order to make his escape I believe he took advantage of a migration of wild birds.

The King, Alex Owen

The prince didn’t realize that for kings, the world is extremely simplified: All men are subjects.

The Vain Man, Zach Cleghorn

To admire means to acknowledge that I am the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on the planet.”

The Businessman, Xavier Frye

Grown-ups like numbers, they never ask, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he like best? Does he collect butterflies?

The Lamplighter, Amy Smith

The lamplighter is the only one who doesn’t strike me as ridiculous. Perhaps it is because he is thinking of something besides himself.

The Snake, Marc Anderson

“It s a little lonely in the desert” said the Prince. “It’s also lonely with people” said the snake.

The Fox, Julie Rich

If you tame me we’ll need each other. I’ll be the only fox in the world for you. But, since there are no stores where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed. Here’s my secret…anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

Water, Bliss Savell

Water can also be good for the heart….thus the water was more than a drink…it was born of our walk beneath the stars.