Score Catalogue
To order, contact us by email or phone. Scores are sent as PDFs. This website is under construction, so listings do not include a synopsis, libretto, or duration of pieces as yet. Contact us at the email address or phone number below to get this information. Chancel operas are anywhere from 10-25 minutes long, and children's operas are mostly an hour or so long.
To order: [email protected] or 484-633-7369
a chancel opera based on scenes in the Gospels
chancel opera
chancel opera
A Holy Cross Day Liturgy
spoken and chanted
And Christ Came into the World
chancel opera for children
By the Pool of Siloam
chancel opera
a chancel opera based on I Samuel 17:55-20:42
a chancel opera based on II Kings 4:8–37
Hannah
chancel opera
Jonah
chancel opera
a tiny liturgical theater piece for narrator, two mimes (optional), violin, piano & tambourine
Magdalene and Others
chancel opera about Jesus's close women disciples
Mary and Rachel
chancel opera
Naaman the Leper
chancel opera
a chancel opera based on Luke 24
a chancel opera based on the story of the raising of the daughter of Jairus
Ruth
a chancel opera
She Who Anointed Jesus's Feet
a musical meditation
a chancel opera based on Luke 2:25-35
Tales of a Magic Monastery
Talent Tale
tiny chancel musical play
The Baptism of Lydia
tiny chancel opera
The Blind Man
chancel opera
The Brave Knight
children's chancel opera
The Departure of Elijah
chancel opera
The Other Wise Man
Epiphany oratorio
A chancel opera interpreting John 2: 1-53
a chancel opera based on Genesis 18:1-15, 21:67, 22:1-18 by Susan Hulsman Bingham
The Syrophoenecian Woman
chancel opera
The Unjust Judge
tiny chancel opera
The Upper Room
tiny chancel opera
Transfiguration
chancel opera
a chancel opera based on John 4
a musical homily for soprano, tenor and piano based on John 7:10–8:11
An "Interchangeable Parts" Opera in Two Acts Based on the Life of Eli Whitney, Inventor of the Cotton Gin and the Interchangeable Parts Musket
an opera for adults and children based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale
a Christmas opera for adults and children based on the traditional Italian fairy tale
a narrated opera of Hasidic tales
The Wild Swans
opera for adults and children
12 short folktale operas for children
a children's musical based on the tale by Martin Bell
Bearskin
children's musical play
a children's opera based on the Plains Indian tale, music, libretto and lyrics by Susan Hulsman Bingham and students of Worthington Hooker Elementary School
Char Face
children's musical play
a Christmas opera based on the tale by M.C. Helldorfer, story adaptation and music by Susan Hulsman Bingham
Fable Operas
children's musical play for large cast
eighteen tiny folktale operas from around the world based on tales submitted by students of Worthington Hooker Elementary School
a children's musical play adapted from the fairy tale
Isis and Osiris
children's musical play
Piper at the Gates of Dawn
children's musical play
Queen for a Day
children's musical play
The Changeling
children's musical play
The Light Princess
children's musical play
a children's musical play based on Grimm tale
a musical play based on Inca tales by Michele Miller Sigg and students of the Worthington Hooker Elementary School. Music by Susan Hulsman Bingham
a children's musical play based on Grimm tale
a musical play for children based on the traditional fairy tale
a tale about a man who didn't wash for seven years!
Cast: Soldiers, General Duck, Eastwood/Bearskin, Sloppy Jo, Billy Bo, Devil, Abyssma, Spiders' Legs, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub, Acrobats, Hurdy Gurdy Man, Monkey, Tailor Man, Newly Suited Man, Old Women Vendors, Grovellers, Dahlia, Jackson, Innkeepers, Berman, Sheldon the Innkeeper, Margery (the Innkeeper's Wife), Papa, Clarice, Patrice, Locktil, Friends of the sisters, Priest
Accompaniment: Piano
Chorus: Treble chorus made up of the actors
Dance: Optional
Language: English
Musical style: Cross between light classical and Broadway, melodic, quirky
Scenes: Eight
Source of texts: Grimm fairy tale
Duration: Seventy-five minutes
Props: Minimal household materials. Details in score.
Click here to hear a sample from a live performance.
Click here to hear a second sample.
Thumbnail Synopsis
A group of Self-Thieves take the "self" from a boy. He wakes in terror and proceeds to go through many trials to find it, with the help of some selfless goblins.
The Long Version
A group of confused and dishevelled soldiers enters. Among them is Eastwood, bravest fighter in the king's army, and General Duck, who is constantly frustrated by his dotty troops.
Because Eastwood is very nearly perfect in his honesty and bravery, the Devil and his two cohorts, Mephistopheles and Beelzebub, decide to test him. The first test involves Abyssma, a huge spider. Eastwood faces her, rescues a man, and lops off her legs. This done, the Devil puts Eastwood under a curse: Eastwood is to remain homeless and unwashed for seven years. He may not say a single Our Father, and he is to be called Bearskin. His only consolation is that he is to wear a coat with a magical pocket which gives him an unending supply of money.
If Eastwood survives the seven years with moral integrity intact, he will go free. If he dies or succumbs to temptations of greed, dishonesty and the like, his soul will go to the Devil.
We witness a few scenes from Bearskin's seven years' wanderings. These include a visit to a carnival featuring acrobats, a hurdy-gurdy man, a master tailor, women selling cakes, and grovellers. We watch as various innkeepers shut their doors to Bearskin. We see how innkeepers Margery and Sheldon treat him: for though his increasingly putrid smell and frightful appearance drive people away, Bearskin's generosity with his money often wins him grudging acceptance.
Three years before the curse is to end, Bearskin meets a poor old man and his three daughters. The youngest, Locktil, agrees to marry Bearskin because he has given money to her father. Bearskin and Locktil exchange halves of a ring and pledge to meet again.
The seven years pass. Eastwood's honesty and bravery have won him release from the curse. The Devil reluctantly cleans him up, and as the layers of grime are removed, Eastwood dreams of his love.
Eastwood arrives at Locktil's home to find that she is in the very process of marrying someone else. He sings their old ring-exchange song to her, and she remembers him, though she is astounded at his now dazzling appearance.
The wedding guests become their former soldier selves. In their customary confusion, they end the show.
three tales by O'Henry • music and libretto by Susan Hulsman Bingham
a ballet opera for children and adults based on the Grimm tale
a ballet based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale
an opera with ballet for children and adults
A Musical Setting of the 23rd Psalm
A Setting of the Rite I Communion Service
A Setting of "Fairest Lord Jesus"
excerpt from the chancel opera Birth of Our Lord
Ave Maria
Little Piano Duet / Communion Piece
Magnificat
May the Road Rise to Meet You
Musical Setting of the Lord's Prayer
Peace Be With You
song in twelve languages
Peace Parade
Priest's Benediction
Psalm 63, Verses 1–3
Tiny Creed
Song Cycle
Intreat Me Not
aria
Whither Thou Goest
from the chancel opera Ruth
To order a score, please contact Susan Bingham by email (www.chancelopera.com) or phone (484-633-7369).
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