Baby Opera

Fri, Nov 26, 2010

When my good friend Kirsty called me a couple of weeks ago to ask if Euan and I would like to go to Baby Opera I jumped at the chance.  I had seen a feature on the news about Scottish Opera’s new venture Baby O and thought it looked like something my baby would enjoy (like many babies Euan LOVES singing). Although I was looking forward to it I had absolutely no idea what to expect.


We arrived at Out of the Blue Drill Hall in time to give Euan a spot of lunch before the performance. I’d never been to this venue before and it’s a real find. The large hall has been converted into a family friendly cafe. While I was feeding Euan I got chatting to a couple of mums and dads who go there a lot. One mum said she often stopped there to breastfeed her baby and relax on the sofa with a coffee. It was a lovely place and I’ll definitely be back.


It was then time for the performance. The comfy seats were low and in a circle around the ‘stage’ which was a round green carpet and the setting of Baby O’s magical garden.  As soon as we sat down Euan wanted to be on the move (he can’t walk yet but he loves to be walked around while holding my hands. Great fun for him, not so great for my back!) Anyway, that was fine while we were waiting for the singing to begin but just as the performance was about to start the audience were politely told that it works best if Baby stays on Mum or Dad’s knee. I looked at Euan’s cheeky smile. No chance.


Happily I couldn’t have been more wrong. From the moment the live singing began, Euan, along with the 40 or so other babies, was absolutely mesmerised.  All of the singing was based on recognisable noises such as buzzing bees, welly boots and quacking ducks. The classically trained singers moved around the circles of babies while they were singing and the lovely thing was that they were always smiling. They used simple and colourful props such as bees which landed on each baby and feathers which floated down from the ceiling and hit the floor with a comical and musical ‘bump’. At one stage each baby was given a rubber duck to hold (or chew in our case!)  The babies (and their parents!) remained fascinated for the entire half hour performance.


An added bonus was the free CD of some of the songs which came complete with a couple of feathers! Euan and I have already had a wee sing along which was fun but I’m not going to give up the day job!


All of these photos were taken after the performance:

Some of the props – welly boots for a song about rain.


The singers. What amazing voices!



Euan playing with his feather and rubber duck on the ‘stage’.


Gorgeous Charlie Grace playing with the cast and one of the props, a jumping frog.


You can see a video of Baby O on the Scottish Opera site.

This post is part of Photo Friday over at Delicious Baby.



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