University of Kentucky Opera Theatre (UKOT) takes the stage at the Lexington Opera House from Oct. 3-5 with Engelbert Humperdinck’s operatic adaptation of the Brothers Grimm tale, “Hansel and Gretel.”
The opera marks the first of the 2025-26 season and will be performed in English with projected English subtitles, according to UKNow.
Megh Jennings-Posner, UKOT production stage manager and program coordinator, said she hopes the production will connect with the Lexington community, especially younger audiences.
“Opera sometimes is very, very serious,” Jennings-Posner said. “And so we wanted to find a piece that could reach into the community and that we could bring a younger audience into the opera for.”
As the stage manager, Jennings-Posner said she is responsible for ensuring the director’s vision translates on stage.
“I sort of see myself as the air traffic controller, making sure that everything comes together and works, and if I’ve done my job right, nobody knows I exist,” Jennings-Posner said.
Jennings-Posner is one of many behind-the-scenes contributors who keep the show running smoothly, part of what stage director Christopher Burchett described as the “tremendous” number of moving parts an opera requires.
“I liken it to driving an aircraft carrier into a harbor,” Burchett said. “It’s like this huge thing that you’re trying to navigate into a relatively small spot. That’s what an opera production is like.”
Burchett, who has sung in several UKOT productions, said this show is his attempt to bring multiple departments together.
“We have tremendous talent in the dance department and the musical theatre department and the opera department and the theatre department, and I think we should try and do more shows engaging all those people,” Burchett said, “This is my attempt to get the ball moving in that direction.”
Sierra Kidd, a third-year master’s student at UK specializing in voice performance, plays Gretel in one of two casts for the production. Kidd, who earned her undergraduate degree in choral music education from UK, has been performing with UKOT since 2022 and plans to pursue opera full-time after she graduates in December.
According to Kidd, UKOT has been an integral part of her development as a performer.
“When I did my bachelor’s degree in music education, it was kind of a Hail Mary,” Kidd said. “I was not certain that I could have made it in the performing world. I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t really think I was all that special. But when I saw that these people at this university were willing to take a chance on me, I decided to take a chance on myself as well.”
Kidd says she prepared for the role by familiarizing herself with the character’s world, considering where she is from, the society she lives in and how she would respond in different situations.
“Once you understand that part of the character, your world opens up,” Kidd said. “It’s like a playground for your mind.”
According to Kidd, she loves opera and productions like “Hansel and Gretel” because contributing to something larger than herself is what makes all the hard work worthwhile.
“Just overall being a part of this experience, truly knowing that I am putting literal parts of myself into something that is bigger than me, is what makes it feel special,” Kidd said.
