Kids, parents have opportunity to meet ‘Mooch the Magnificent’
Kids, this is for you!
The opera “Mooch the Magnificent” takes place in a zoo, far in the future. But times have changed. People are afraid of nature, of the wild, so everything is sealed up. Everyone lives inside, in cities covered by domes. The animals are robots–they act a bit like animals, but what good is a lion who can’t roar? And the unicorn complains she’s really a horse.
The zookeeper, an engineer, loves his robot animals, but they keep breaking. In comes Mooch, a young girl who has a special connection to the nature we know.
She claims she can fix the faltering robots in exchange for living at the zoo.
The engineer is skeptical.
After all, Mooch is only a kid! The surprise—Mooch is even more clever than the learned engineer. After she makes a few tweaks, the lion can sing. But he sings of sorrow at not being able to roar. While the engineer naps, Mooch keeps using her brain and her skills, and soon the lion can roar.
For “Mooch” composer Lauren Bernofsky, Mooch is “a badass girl who can do anything a man can do.” Mooch overturns the misconception that only men can fix things, that men are better than women at science and technology.
“Women have traditionally been discouraged from pursuing math and the sciences,” says Bernofsky.
“They weren’t given the tough math problems at school. Mooch proves the
Jan Holloway
Guest columnist
opposite. I hope young girls will feel inspired by her.”
Mooch rescues the animals from their robot states, slowly returning them to their original character in the wild. In doing this she also begins to rehabilitate nature. When she fixes the unicorn, it sings of her origins in nature. This beauty affects the engineer. He remembers his childhood in nature and grows nostalgic for his childhood memories of the sea and the sky. But still, his fear of nature is stronger.
Bernofsky wants this opera to convey the message that “nature is precious, not to be feared, but embraced,” she says.
“You need only look to see its beauty and wonder. We need a better understanding of nature for our own personal happiness and the good of the natural world.
Listen to the rich symphony of nature. Every sound comes from an incredible creature that can do things that we can’t. The more we’re connected to nature, the happier we are as individuals.” Does the engineer lose his fear of nature, or not? Come to the opera and find out what happens!
“Mooch” is an opera written especially for children. And in that, it delivers a double surprise.
In the movies, opera tends to be portrayed as an art form for grownups, for eggheads, for people who already know a lot about music. Bernofsky addresses this misconception with “Mooch.” The music isn’t dumbed down, but sophisticated, and catchy enough that kids can relate to it.
Bernofsky says, “’Mooch’ opens up a whole new world of wonder. I love seeing kids have this rich experience with classical music, understanding opera needn’t be hard. It’s also great for little girls to see a 13-year-old girl who’s a renegade, but who also speaks respectfully to adults. She’s the girl, but she’s also the teacher. And she can work with robots better than the male engineer. I also want kids to see that women can write opera. It wasn’t till high school that I tried my hand at composing, when a music teacher gave me an assignment.”
“I want girls, I want kids to realize: I can be a composer too.” “Mooch the Magnificent” is presented as part of ChamberFest Brown County. The libretto was written by the well-loved, well-known Bloomington novelist and essayist Scott Russell Sanders.
Join us for this special treat at 12:30 on August 22 at Parkview Church of the Nazarene, 1750 State Road 46, Nashville. This production being staged for third, fourth, and fifth graders from Van Buren, Sprunica, and Helmsburg Elementary schools with their teachers and parents. Homeschoolers of the same age and their adults are welcome too! See you there!
