Andrew Cyr and David Bruce talk over the score on stage for “The Firework Maker’s Daughter.”
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Get an insider’s view of performances that are now in full swing for David Bruce’s “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” at The New Victory Theater.
[caption id=“attachment_1154” align=“alignnone” width=“500”] Soprano Mary Bevan (Lila) performs with James Laing (Hamlet) in The Firework Maker’s Daughter. Photo courtesy of Robert Workman.[/caption] The press are lavishing praise on David Bruce’s new opera, The Firework Maker’s Daughter, in a production created by The Opera Group and Opera North. The family-friendly show based on the novel by Philip Pullman is currently on tour in the UK and comes to New York in collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble this May. The Telegraph’s Michael White marvels that the new production is “a relentless spectacle” that left him smiling:
“At last: a first-rank children’s opera, all the better for its low-tech magic… the most utterly endearing, joyous and delightful show I’ve seen in ages… it has the makings of a real hot-ticket. During May it turns up in Bury St Edmunds, Buxton, Oxford and Newcastle. And if you can’t make any of those but have some air miles, it’s also playing in New York. Go.” Read more…
Alfred Hickling calls David Bruce “a composer who enjoys playing with fire” in this week’s performance at Hull Truck theatre in Kingston.
“Bruce’s vividly coloured chamber score skims the Pacific rim for influences, combining gamelan crashes and plunky pentatonics with the incongruous wheeze of an accordion to create a beguiling, imaginary hybrid of Indo-European folk music. The cast are all engaging comic performers as well as fine singers: Mary Bevan’s Lila has a gung-ho tendency to leap before she looks; Andrew Slater is delightful as the hapless Rambashi, whose career plans as a pirate and caterer come to nought; James Laing’s ethereal countertenor seems curiously suited to the plight of a pining white elephant.” Read more…
Ron Simpson for
says “The Firework Maker’s Daughter is a wonderful entertainment: how often can we say that of a new opera?”
“It’s full of magic and themes of growing up and responsibility, with plenty of ingeniously improvised spectacle, but there are abundant unforced laughs… David Bruce’s score is a constant delight, from a cappella anthems to exotic percussion effects. He borrows freely from many sources, with a generic Orientalism showing especially in the writing for flute, and tunefulness keeps breaking in.” Read more…
Samira Ahmed on
, a radio program on BBC World Service, sat down with David Bruce and librettist Glyn Maxwell to discuss sparks, fantasy, opera clichés, and painting fireworks with music.
(Interview begins at the 10-minute mark.) Ruth Puckering for
raves: “It’s a visual feast of shapes, colour, light and sound as the singing, music, acting and storytelling all wind seamlessly together around a cast who are uniformly excellent.”
Metropolis Ensemble, led by Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr, is delighted to announce its collaboration with The Opera Group and Opera North: “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” a new opera by David Bruce and Glyn Maxwell based on the enchanting novel by acclaimed author Philip Pullman. The family-friendly production will be presented May 3-12, 2013 at The New Victory Theater in New York City. This captivating opera tells the story of one girl’s quest to become a firework maker. Determined to master Crackle Dragons, Leaping Monkeys and Golden Sneezes, Lila tests her talents and gambles her good fortune as she parlays with pirates, grapples with ghosts and faces off with a ferocious fire-fiend. “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” features an internationally-inspired score by David Bruce and a witty libretto by Glyn Maxwell and a cast of five artists who enliven shadow puppets from Cambridge, England’s Indefinite Articles. Metropolis artists, including nine players, will perform this chamber opera in two acts, set in a fantastical land where animals talk, goddesses reign and imps dwell. Philip Pullman is the author of several best-selling books, most notably the fantasy trilogy “His Dark Materials,” including Northern Lights which was adapted for film in 2007 as “The Golden Compass” starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. He published “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” in 1996, incorporating his love for the inventive names of pyrotechnics like incandescent fountain and scarlet volcano. In an interview with Scholastic, he said the idea for the book “came from my childhood when we used to have fireworks every year on Guy Fawkes Night… And I’d never lost that love of fireworks, so I thought it would be nice to do a story all about them.” Mr. Pullman suggests that theater is most valuable to us because it invites us to pretend together and that, by joining in, we make the journey something we share. The author provides audiences one undeniably adventuresome opportunity to do so, as his novel jumps from page to stage in this full-blown puppet opera. From aspiring adolescent firework makers who contend with pirate crews to an entrepreneurial albino elephant, nothing is too much for the imagination and it’s all a delectable dose of exactly what Mr. Pullman prescribes:
“Children need to go to the theater as much as they need to run about in the fresh air. They need to hear real music played by real musicians on real instruments as much as they need food and drink. They need to read and listen to proper stories as much as they need to be loved and cared for… If you deprive them of art and music and story and theater, they perish on the inside.”
Composer David Bruce is a native of Stamford, Connecticut who grew up in England and has a growing reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. Metropolis Ensemble has collaborated on multiple projects with Mr. Bruce, including
and most recently
He received his third Carnegie Hall commission
Steampunk
last year, and new commissions from The Silk Road Ensemble and the London Philharmonic in 2012. Mr. Bruce recalls his own connection to the stage and the creation of this new opera:
“Since my own childhood I have thought of the theatre as a colourful place of magic and fantasy and as I’ve grown older I am still attracted to those same aspects - for me there is not really a difference between children’s theatre and adult theatre - as I see it, it’s all ‘play’ and we are all children… In the theatre we allow ourselves to wonder - to question 'what if’ - and the question can sometimes be absurd or comical in nature, but other times be something much more profound. In a largely secular society, the theatre is one of the few places where we can still ask ourselves the big questions, and still feel wonder in all its aspects. My instinct as an artist is to set those big questions in a context that allows us to laugh, smile and relax.”
“The Firework Maker’s Daughter” makes its world premiere at Hull Truck in Yorkshire on March 23, 2013 and tours the UK at Linbury Studio and Royal Opera House in April, before coming to America and The New Victory Theater in May. Located in the heart of Times Square and 42nd Street, this historic jewel box theater (the oldest operating in New York City) is tricked out especially for families.
for children 8+ and imaginations of all ages!
Co-produced by
and Opera North in association with ROH2 and Watford Palace Theatre. Co-commissioned by The Opera Group and ROH2. Orchestral Partner: Metropolis Ensemble. Art credit for The New Victory Theater: Tom Slaughter
Harpist Bridget Kibbey had a concept for a concert: to celebrate the diverse and colorful cultures that make up the American musical fabric.
Tallis: If Ye Love Me from Metropolis Ensemble on Vimeo.
The world premiere of Thomas Tallis: If Ye Love Me (arranged by David Bruce), featuring Metropolis Ensemble and Friends, Kristin Lee on solo violin. Performed on February 14, 2010 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. This was part of Love Letter to Haiti, a Valentine’s Day benefit concert for Partners in Health, organized by Metropolis Ensemble and artistic director Andrew Cyr. Video by Gareth Paul Cox and Kyrie Cox; sound by Ryan Streber.
Sports et Divertissements - Tennis from Metropolis Ensemble on Vimeo.
Erik Satie’s Sports et Divertissements (1914) arranged for chamber orchestra by David Bruce, performed on April 10, 2008 at The Times Center in New York City. Featuring Mike Daisey (narrator), and the Metropolis Ensemble led by conductor Andrew Cyr. Video by Timothy Bakland; sound by Ryan Streber.
Bruce: Caja de Musica and Capulet: A l'espangol from Metropolis Ensemble on Vimeo.
David Bruce: Caja de Musica; Andre Capulet: A l'espangol, both featuring Bridget Kibbey on harp. Performed on February 14, 2010 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. This was part of Love Letter to Haiti, a Valentine’s Day benefit concert for Partners in Health, organized by Metropolis Ensemble and artistic director Andrew Cyr. Video by Gareth Paul Cox and Kyrie Cox; sound by Ryan Streber.
Metropolis composer David Bruce was interviewed in April 2011 for his new commission for Silk Road Project.
“David’s music draws inspiration from folk traditions around the world, and he enjoys collaborating with musicians who have strong connections with both classical and folk or world traditions, which made him a prime candidate for working with the Silk Road Ensemble.”