STORYLINES CHILDREN’S LITERATURE CHARITABLE TRUST in association with the AUCKLAND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA - JELLYBEAN

World premiere adaptation of Tessa Duder’s classic New Zealand story,

for orchestra and actors

Storylines Festival Free Family Day, Sunday 28 August 2011

A new children’s musical play for orchestra and performers in the tradition of Peter and the Wolf is a feature free event of the upcoming 18^th annual Storylines Festival of New Zealand Children’s Writers and Illustrators.

Jellybean, a play for orchestra and three actors by Tessa Duder, is being performed at the Aotea Centre as a partnership between Storylines and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.  There are two performances on Sunday 28 August at 1.30 and 3 p.m. Admission is free.

The one-hour production, using music from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, is being directed by opera singer and director Linda Kitchen, with Hong Kong-based Judith Yan conducting.

The adaptation by Auckland writer Tessa Duder from her acclaimed 1985 children’s novella tells the story of Geraldine, a solitary 11-year-old girl whose mother plays the cello in a city orchestra and who yearns, she thinks in vain, for a career as a conductor. Into Geraldine’s life comes a mysterious cellist, a newcomer to the orchestra. Through him, she finds she finds a better relationship with her mother, discovers the identity of her unknown father and at a school concert, experiences the joy of conducting.

Jellybean is being played by 14-year-old Northcote College student Ruby Love, whose acting experience includes film (Bridge to Terabithia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), television drama (Burying Brian), several TV commercials and stage productions.  

Her mother Anna is being played by Georgia Wood, well-known Auckland singer, actor and vocal coach, who has appeared in several major Australian musical theatre productions, Auckland Theatre Company musicals and TV (Shortland Street).

Cellist Gerald is Kevin Keys, an experienced Auckland stage actor and popular presenter of the Auckland Philharmonia’s children’s concerts.       

English-born director Linda Kitchen brings to this first production a distinguished career in opera, including performances at Covent Garden and many major European opera houses.  

Conductor Judith Yan is a rising star in the specialised world of opera and ballet conducting. Since her debut in 2006 with the National Ballet of Canada, she has been much in demand by major companies in USA and Europe and China. 

Jellybean was first published by Oxford University Press in 1985, followed by publication in Australia, USA, UK and Holland. It was re-issued by HarperCollins in 2010. In 1986 it was also the first of only two children’s novels ever to be shortlisted for the New Zealand (adult) book awards, and a year later won selection as an American Library Association Honour Book.

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