Orchestra London is presenting a total of five performances of The Sleeping Beauty – four for school audiences and one for a family audience – with London-area acting troupe  this week.  According to the media release, “the concerts combine a parody of the famous fairy tale with Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Suite and volunteer participation from the audience.”

This is the second annual collaborative venture for the two groups:  in 2009, Orchestra London partnered with Duffle Bag Theatre for The Adventures of Robin Hood, a production that delighted thousands of schoolchildren across the London region.

Over 2700 school children from twenty local schools will take in the weekday performances at Saunders Secondary School.  Mitch Tyler, a music teacher at Saunders Secondary School,  will conduct.

“Romantic movie music plays a large role in many films that kids enjoy (from Harry Potter to Star Wars),” says Mitch Tyler. “And the music in this production functions in a similar fashion, alternating between complete focus on the orchestral performance and the use of the music to support the stage action. Seeing the conductor using a power drill might appeal too, I would guess!”

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