The Three Little Pigs

Description
An operatic version of the story of The Three Little Pigs based on scenes from operas by W. A. Mozart.

While brother pigs Don Giovanni and Cherubino set off to make homes of sticks and straw, their sister, Despina, goes to the library to read up on "huff-proof, puff-proof" home construction. After Wolfgang Bigbad blows down the boys’ flimsy homes, they run to their sister’s sturdy new brick house quite ready to admit that going to the library and reading books is a pretty smart thing to do after all.

Listen to 3 excerpts from The Three Little Pigs

1. Little Pigs Trio I will build my house tomorrow... from W.A. Mozart’s: Cosi Fan Tutte, "Una Bella serenata"	listen mp3
2. Wolf’s Song On the go from morn till night from W.A. Mozart’s: Don Giovanni "Notte e giorno faticar"	listen mp3
3. Wolf and Piggy Duet Oh little piggy, let me come in. from W.A. Mozart’s: Don Giovann "E via buffone"	listen mp3

Royalty
$35.00 per performance

Appropriate grade level
Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade

Duration
40 minutes

Performers
4 singing actors and an accompanist

A note from John
In 1991, while working as Director of Education for Syracuse Opera, I was asked by a large Parent Teacher Association if we had anything in our repertoire celebrating books and reading. The PTA had initiated a program called PARP (Parents As Reading Partners) and was looking for imaginative ways to celebrate reading and literature. We didn’t happen to have a "reading show" in our repertoire at the time, but rather than jeopardize a chance for work, I somewhat recklessly guaranteed that we would "any moment now."

I wrote The Three Little Pigs shortly thereafter. I thought it would be fun to have the two pigs who build their homes of sticks and straw do so out of a kind of slovenly lack of planning. In contrast, the little book-loving pig who builds her brick house goes to the library and reads up on wolf-resistant structures.

The Three Little Pigs has been produced with regularity in the USA since 1991. It gives me real satisfaction to think many excellent American singers having wonderful operatic careers today used to be big bad wolves and little piglets.