An Egyptian queen, a Native American, a ‘50s bobby-soxer and a boy from the Revolutionary War era came to life this week at the Baton Rouge Center for Visual and Performing Arts as part of the student opera “Myth in the Museum.”  Loosely based on the movie “Night at the Museum,” the three-scene student opera took students, staff and parents on a wild romp around a museum after historical figures come alive.  Those characters include (photo, left to right) Casie, a girl from the 1950s played by Kaitylyn Young; Light Feather, played by Brittani Thomas; and Chatuluka Nailah Re, played by Grace Martin.

Over 10 weeks, various students in the Fourth Grade United All Stars Opera Company are broken up into crews to create an original student opera from the ground up.  Crews included:  performers, writers/ historians, composers, orchestra members, set designers, carpenters, costumers, make-up artists, publicity agents, electricians and stage managers.  Each crew was under the supervision of a fourth-grade teacher or an arts staff member.  Free public performances will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 22, and 10 a.m. Friday, October 23.

The company (4th graders) as a whole chose a company name, theme, thesis statement, colors, line, shape and texture.  The writers took the information and wrote a script from that.  The performances are made possible with assistance from the Washington National Opera’s Creating Original Opera program in Washington, D.C.  Creating Original Opera, which originated with the New York Metropolitan Opera, has been in existence for eight years at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts.