"Hansel and Gretel" will be the first children’s production staged by Opera York and will be baritone Andrew Tees’ debut as an Artistic Director. Mr. Tees is well known to Opera York audiences for his big baritone voice and engaging presence. Starring in the role of the nasty witch will be Canada’s favourite diva, Mary Lou Fallis. Ms. Fallis is probably best known as the creator of five one-woman shows: Primadonna, based on her own life as a singer (which won an ACTRA award); Emma, Queen of Song about the real-life Canadian diva, Emma Albani; The Mrs. Bach Show hosted by Anna Magdalena, the wife of JS Bach; and Ms. Mozart, the story of Nannerl (sister of the more famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). Accompanying Ms. Fallis in the roles of Hansel and Gretel’s mother and father will be mezzo soprano Kathryn Knapp who is currently a COC chorus member and Andrew Tees. The boy Hansel will be played Ms. Jillian Yemen who has performed with the Brampton Lyric Opera and the University of Toronto. Arlene Alvarado will return to the Opera York stage as Gretel. Ms. Alvarado made the audience’s ears vibrate with delight as the princess Pamina in Opera York’s November production of The Magic Flute, with her luscious, soprano voice. This full production in English is accompanied by the Opera York Orchestra and Chorus under the Musical Direction of Alain Trudel.

The story of how the opera came about is also the story of a brother (the composer Humperdinck) and his younger sister, (the librettist, Adelheid Wette). Wette asked her brother to provide the songs to a "nursery play" she had written to surprise her husband and children. The play was adapted from the fairy tale written by the Brothers Grimm and the song that Humperdinck
composed was "Little Brother, Come, Dance With Me" which became the most popular number in "Hansel and Gretel". Following the success of the play with her family, Adelheid Wette went on to develop the full libretto of Hansel and Gretel and Humperdinck had his first opera. "Hansel and Gretel" premiered on December 23 in 1893 and is Humperdinck’s most remembered opera. It instantly became a holiday tradition rivaling ballet’s "The Nutcracker Suite" for holiday fun.