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Fantastic Mr. Fox

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Information

  • Opera composed by Tobias Picker
  • Productions:
    • Los Angeles Opera, December 9, 1998 (World premiere)
    • DiCapo Opera, New York, 2009
    • Opera Holland Park, 2010 (World premiere of reduced version)
    • English Touring Opera, 2011 (European premiere)
    • Microscopic Opera Company, September 2011
    • Opera San Antonio, 2014
    • Boston Modern Orchestra Project, 2014

For more information, see Music Link International.

Description

Fantastic Mr. Fox is an opera in three acts composed by Tobias Picker to a libretto by Donald Sturrock based on Roald Dahl’s children’s novel of the same name. It was premiered by Los Angeles Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on December 9, 1998.

A modern fable, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a story about good vs. evil, animal vs. human, and nature vs. technology. With the help of the other creatures of the forest, Mr. Fox must outwit his enemies to keep his family safe. Mr. Fox finds that he may have stolen one hen too many from the henhouse, as the meanest farmers anywhere — Boggis, Bunce, and Bean (one fat, one short, one lean) — conspire to rid their lands of the Fox family once and for all. The Foxes are able to evade capture with the help of some woodland friends, leaving the farmers laying in wait while the animals help themselves to the fruit of the farmers’ lands. Having had their revenge, the animals return for a sumptuous feast far from danger in the Foxes‘ new home, while the farmers continue to wait in the rain. The opera is available in a singable German version as well.

Cast/Crew

  • Cast:
    • Mrs. Fox: Suzanna Guzmán
    • Bennie Foxcub: Jason Housman
    • Lennie Foxcub: Theo Lebow
    • Jennie Foxcub: Lauren Libaw
    • Pennie Foxcub: Amy Recinos
    • Farmer Boggis: Louis Lebherz
    • Farmer Bunce: Doug Jones
    • Farmer Bean: Jamie Offenbach
    • Fantastic Mr. Fox: Gerald Finley
    • Agnes the Digger: Jill Grove
    • Mavis the Tractor: Lesley Leighton
    • Miss Hedgehog: Sari Gruber
    • Badger the Miner: Malcolm MacKenzie
    • Burrowing Mole: Jorge Garza
    • Rita the Rat: Josepha Gayer
    • Porcupine: Charles Castronovo
  • Crew:
    • Conductor: Peter Ash
    • Director: Donald Sturrock
    • Costume designer: Gerald Scarfe
    • Stage designer: Gerald Scarfe

Reviews

Fun Stuff

  • Watch online:

Posters