A Noteworthy Tale

a one-act opera for children

Commissioned by
Lyric Opera of Chicago

music & libretto by
Philip Seward

Adapted from
A Noteworthy Tale
by Brenda Mutchnick and Ron Casden.
Published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, ©1997. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

STORY: Notso Profundo awakens to a regular day in Rhapsody where he lives in the Notable Inn with the notes of the scale: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti and The Other Do. As they all practice for the upcoming festival of Reason and Rhyme, Notso’s baton slips from his grasp and falls into the Groove, a fast flowing brook in Rhapsody. Jumping in after the baton, Notso eventually washes up in Slrrrrr where all music is forbidden. Konrad Troubleclef keeps a tight hold on events in Slrrrrr and, in fact, currently holds prisoner the young Melisma Tone-Cluster in hopes of changing her mind about marrying him. This breaks the heart of his cook, Rose Transpose, who would love to marry the guy herself! Just as Konrad and his sidekick, the Soundcatcher, hatch a plan to eliminate music everywhere, Notso and Melisma escape back to Rhapsody. There, the two collaborate with the notes of the scale to develop a plan to save music...and the gray, dismal land of Slrrrrr!