Becoming Santa Claus — Cast and Instrumentation

PRINCIPALS
Queen Sophine Lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano.
Donkey Messenger Basso cantante.
The Elves1
Yan high lyric soprano.
Ib mezzo-contralto.
Yab lyric tenor.
Ob bass-buffo.
INSTRUMENTATION
  • Flute (doubling Piccolo)
  • Clarinet 1 in B-flat
  • Clarinet 2 in B-flat (doubling Bass Clarinet)
  • Trumpet in D (doubling Trumpet in C)
  • Horn (Orchestral Horn 1 – high tessitura)
  • 2 Tenor Trombone
  • Timpani
  • Percussion 1
    • Marimba
    • Vibraphone
    • Glockenspiel
  • Percussion 2
    • Non-pitched skins and metals 
  • Piano 1 (doubling Celesta)
  • Piano 2 (tuned ¼ tone flat of Piano 1: doubling Harpsichord)
  • Harp
  • Strings
  • Children’s Handbell Ensemble (in audience: enough players for 48 pitches
    4 chromatic octaves)

1 – While the Elves must perform as traditional opera singers, casting should favor singers with other vocal skills such as jazz improvisation, rap, and/or quasi-percussive choral utterance, as their principal sequence, the toy quartet, will extend as far outside traditional operatic technique as taste and ability will permit.

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