Joel Thompson, The Snowy Day (2021)

Houston Grand Opera kept telling me about this premiere they were going to do, and I really wanted to check it out, but would it be streamed?  Well, obviously it was (free to watch with a free registration).  So I saw it!  It's based on the classic children's book, that I do indeed vaguely remember from when I was small.  It is, we are told, the first "mainstream" children's book with a black protagonist, though I have to admit, I absolutely did not remember that he was black.  Looking back, it's unambiguous; I think possibly ethnicity just wasn't a detail that my brain registered at a young age, particularly if it weren't the point of the story.  

As for that story, it's obviously been expanded A LOT.  The book doesn't really feature any characters aside from the main one, Peter.  He goes out and plays in the snow and then comes back in and is sad because the snowball he saved melted, but then the next day there's more snow so he's over the moon again.  That's it.  The only other people who appear, sort of, are the big kids having a snowball fight, his mom, and his friend, but they each appear in one drawing without much detail and never say or do anything.

So clearly some improvisation was necessary.  First, we see a lot more from Peter's parents, including a few arias from mom's perspective.  Then, the "big kids" are presented in much more detail: mean bullies (well, "bullies" might be pushing it: they're just rowdy), except that one of them, Tim, does a face turn and joins Peter.  He, Peter, also makes friends with a girl, Amy, who is--I gather--the daughter of hispanic immigrants or something of the sort.  She sings a number of lines in Spanish.

Yeah, man.  This is a real charmer of an opera--short and sweet at just over seventy minutes.  The music is sparkly and befitting of so snow-oriented a story, and the characters are all likable.  I'm sort of on the fence about how convincing Raven McMillon is as a boy.  She IS very short, I'll give her that much, but maybe still a bit overly feminine-looking?  Well, now I'm just doing dumb nitpicking.  Regardless of any of that, she's very good in the role.  It's all fun.  Definitely a nice piece for the holidays, so see it...or don't!