For those of you who also grew up with Ezra Jack Keats’s magical The Snowy Day, you can imagine my thrill at discovering The Snowy Day has become a wonderful opera now available to stream on the the Houston Grand Opera website
Even better, we can all watch it right now, totally free.
The lovely, short (i.e. kid-friendly) production brings to life what (as you probably know) was the first ever mainstream children’s book featuring a Black boy as a protagonist, taking a magical journey through the city where a winter wonderland look a little different than the snowy mountains and forests of most winter storybooks.
Thanks to the tip from our own contributor (and professional opera singer herself) Ibiduni Ojijkutu, I discovered the December 9 opening night performance of The Snowy Day opera and am so glad we can all watch it.
I think you’ll just adore how the Caldecott-winning illustrations are interpreted as operatic sets, with the colorful 60s graphics of Peter’s bedroom popping right off the screen, and simple sets that work so beautifully to up the imagination factor as he heads outside with friends on his adventure.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes your kids want to stage their own production right in the living room.
Especially with subtitles helping kids follow along.
With soprano Raven MicMillon’s charming performance as Peter, and a lovely supporting cast, director Omer Ben Seadia’s hour-long production is a perfect way to sit around the big screen with kids of any age, and watch something with (gasp) absolutely no superhero costumes or CGI.
You just have to register on the site — totally free — and it’s yours to download and stream when you need a bit of family comfort and joy
Hey, the kids may even ask you what opera you can all watch together next.
Register and the The Houston Grand Opera’s The Snowy Day can be streamed free on any device including Internet-connected TVs, iOs and Android phones and tablets, Roku, Fire TV, or just screenshare from a laptop or tablet to your TV. You can also watch The Making of The Snowy Day — I always love the behind-the-scenes features.
Oh and fun fact: The Snowy Day is the most checked-out book of all time from the NY Public Library
