‘The Little Prince’ @ The Dallas Opera
Show photos by Kyle Flubacker
—Wayne Lee Gay
Abundant charm, whimsical humor, and a gorgeous neo-romantic score come to life this week at Winspear Opera House, as The Dallas Opera presents British composer Rachel Portman's The Little Prince. Like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's illustrated novella Le petit prince of 1943, the literary and visual source from which it is derived, Portman's opera is totally "family friendly,” with none of the gore, anguish, and sexual misadventure of the main operatic repertoire.
But neither is this “just” a children's opera in any sense. As in the original book, The Little Prince also reaches adults on a more reflective level. (The Dallas Opera will, incidentally, present a shortened fifty-minute version especially for younger audience members on February 15.)
The story (the libretto is by Nicholas Wright) is basically a modern fairy tale, in which an aviator who has crashed in the African desert encounters—miraculously—a small boy who has traveled from a tiny distant planet. The prince has, on this journey, explored a set of small inhabited planets inhabited by a variety of types, including a perpetually busy lamplighter, a foolish king, a number-obsessed businessman, a vain man, and a garden of flowers—among others.
The succession of events is light on drama but full of easily absorbed philosophy; one might characterize this as a scenic cantata. With the little Prince and the curious aviator as guides, younger viewers can enjoy the adventurous tales, fantastic costumes and eccentric character types—while adults, in addition, may ponder the underlying theme of the unavoidable passing away of childhood.
Lyric baritone Kyle Miller brings a beautifully warm quality to the role of the pilot, and 13-year-old boy soprano Everett Baumgarten portrays the Prince with a clear tone and spirited energy. Balance is somewhat a problem: the orchestra all too often overwhelms Miller in particular, but other singers as well. Sometimes only the projected supertitles provide the viewer with ability to understand the words.
Conductor Paolo Bressan ably guides the melodic score; the late Maria Björnson's sets and costumes from the Houston Grand Opera's premiere production of 2003 are still beautifully engaging. And director Anna Maria Bruzzese's revival of Francesca Zambello's staging for the premiere flows magnificently to the final star-lit, calmly thrilling moment.
WHEN: February 8, 11, 14, with abridged children's version on February 15, 2026
WHERE: Winspear Opera House, Dallas
WEB: dallasopera.org
