When Opera Orlando’s premiere of the one-act chamber opera “The Secret River” opens Friday night at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Kissimmee’s Lilyanne Tindell will be part of the show’s children’s choir.
At age 8, she’s its youngest member, and has been in rehearsals for weeks, said her mother, Joette Tindell. Lilyanne, who goes by “Pearl”, landed the role of a little fish puppeteer in the show, which will play through Sunday, and PBS will record today’s dress rehearsal to televise the premiere to school districts across the nation. The show is being supported by a National Endowment of the Arts grant.
“In these times, we need something like this so much,” Joette said. “The whole family feels like this is a gift for her.”
According to the family, Pearl heard opera at age 2 on a PBS special, and it’s been a lovely melody ever since. At age 6, she auditioned for and joined Opera Orlando in early 2020 — right before COVID-19 hit and shut down all in-person events
… like concerts. So, the home became her singing outlet.
“Everything’s became a song around the house,” Joette said. “She’d sing what she wanted for dinner.”
In the show, Pearl will sing a libretto written by Grammy Award winner Mark Campbell. The music is composed by UCF professor and music director Stella Sung. The story, an adaptation of the author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ book of the same name, is set in Central Florida during the Great Depression.
