THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280477
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MICHELE SNIPE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
With her chest out, head held high and butterflies fluttering in her stomach, Carolyn Rambosek stepped onto the Chrysler Museum Theater stage Thursday to prepare for her operatic debut.
Her gaze fixed on an imaginary sun overhead, the 7-year-old confidently belted out a lament about the drought-parched Earth.
``Let's try that an octave higher,'' the director challenged patiently. Carolyn wiped imaginary sweat from her brow, then launched into the song again, working to get it right for tonight's performance of ``Persephone,'' a children's opera composed by Sanford Jones.
In a one-shot, free performance, Carolyn and 19 other Ghent Montessori School students will stage Jones' adaptation of a Greek myth about a daughter's kidnapping, a mother's grief and how the two almost destroy the Earth.
The 7 p.m. show at the museum theater is the climax of a two-week workshop at the school that started with lessons in Greek mythology, script distributions, singing and prop creations.
The cast was joined during the second week by Jones and his wife, Judy, a dancer. The pair is responsible for the direction and choreography.
Sanford Jones, a Radford native, has written nine children's operas and travels to Montessori schools around the country directing performances. This marks his first trip to Norfolk.
``He's great,'' said Jay Taylor, a clinical psychologist and parent who is participating in the production.
``There is a high level of professionalism,'' he said. ``He's asking the same things of 6-, 7- and 8-year olds that he would adults.''
Cardboard and aluminum foil tunics, staffs, jewelry and swords were researched by students to confirm their historical accuracy, said Dorothy Knox, an elementary teacher at Montessori.
Auditions were held to cast the children, who ranged from 4 to 11 years old. ``Not everyone got the part they wanted, but everyone's happy,'' Knox said. ``We haven't heard anyone saying, `Well, I didn't want to do that,' or anything like that.''
With 15 shows a year, the 57-year-old Jones said he took up composing when he found there wasn't much opera geared toward children. ``I wanted them to experience an opera with sophistication,'' he said, ``where the music would be worthy of the child.''
So he set several ancient myths to music. ``There's so much magic in these stories that's missing in contemporary work,'' Knox said, as squeals of delight rang out from the stage. At Sanford's direction, the young performers were expressing excitement about a visit by a messenger of the gods.
While one little girl complained during rehearsals that her feet were tired, Sanford tried to keep the rest of his crew in focus.
``My feet are getting tired,'' persisted the youngster. Jones tried another approach - a game. Asked to curl and wind their bodies into letters of the alphabet, the children slithered around, giggling. Once in position, they were told to hold the pose for five counts.
Most of the kids thought they were just having fun, but they were actually being taught concentration.
``I learned to focus so the audience won't distract me,'' said William Nexsen, 11, who has two roles in the play.
``They're learning 101 different things,'' said Suzanne Pugin, who heads the school, such as discipline, cooperation, teamwork and ``the pure joy of singing and dancing.'' by CNB