HANSEL AND GRETEL
This musical is a re-write of the Humperdink opera into a stage piece that I believe is more "available" to children.  Using the melodies of the opera, I have re-written the lyrics to advance the story in a way that children can relate to.  In an ominous forest setting are placed the house of the family, and later, the gingerbread house of the Witch.  As portrayed in the opera (but not in the original story) the Mother, rather than being a heartless harridan, is a wife at wit's end trying to provide for her family.  I've also tried to inject more comedy into the scrappy relationship the children share with each other.  With two adults as the Father and Mother, the third adult who plays the harassed and much reviled Witch can be played by either a female or a comic male.  The five member cast is completed with either two children or two small young adults.  I have provided two alternate endings to Act I.  After the children sing The Evening Prayer and fall asleep,  the Fairy of the Forest (danced by the actress who plays the Mother) appears and creates a circle of protection about them.  In the alternate ending, it is the Witch who appears while the children sleep and creates a circle of invisibility around them so that when the Mother and Father enter, calling for their lost children, they walk right past the sleeping children without being able to see them.  Besides the Evening Prayer, the songs include I Hate Brooms/Mending!,  Brother Come And Dance With Me, The Gobbling Cookie Witch,  Brother and Sister, The Witch's Tale, Check The Oven, Dear!, and Let's Go Home.  In the final scene, the "Cookie Children" who are set free from the Witch's curse can be taken from the audience.