Children of the Opera

In Act II, the children sing along with the urchins' chorus and play the roles of street urchins outside the Cafe Momus.

Less than a month before opening night of the production, Jim Swiggart, general director of the opera, asked Beth Withey to work with the children's chorus, which appears in the entire second act of the Opera.

"I was thrilled to be able jump into such a fun and exciting project," said children's chorus director Beth Withey. "In less than a month's time, these young performers learned a very complicated musical score, which they perform with a full orchestra."

The children learned to sing phonetic Italian for the urchins' chorus and learned the stage movements for the act as well.

"My favorite part is the parade in Act II; I got to march in different directions and move around a lot," says 9-year-old actress Cecilia Doss of Berryville. "To make our faces look dirty, we rubbed them with newspaper. One urchin was so dirty he looked like a chimney sweep -- it was really funny," she said, giggling.

The street urchins were played by Cecilia Doss, Makaila Dycus, Simone Feldmann, BaiLee Girouard, Alyssa Harris, Dustin Holman, Catherine Hudgens, Andrew Hudspeth, Ashlynn Lockhart, Nora Walker and Claira Watson.

"The adult singers are brilliant, but I can't help thinking that the urchins' chorus steal the show," Withey said.

La Boheme will continue on July 12, 14 and 20 at Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting Opera.org or calling 479-253-8595.