[This is a guest post by Ensemble Studio member Jenna Douglas, a pianist and coach. Jenna Douglas is the music director of Hansel and Gretel, currently touring with the Xstrata Ensemble Studio School Tour. Follow Jenna on twitter at @jennamariepiano!] 

As the sun was rising on Tuesday morning, team Hansel and Gretel squeezed into a van, and in various degrees of chipperness, we made our way to our first tour destination. We performed two shows at Ridgewood Public School in Mississauga for kids from Kindergarten to Grade 3. If I do say so myself, we were a hit.  Rihab and Lisa had the kids' attention from the very start (the kids obviously know good paddy-cake when they see it). Michael drew shrieks of laughter as the Witch, and the puppets stole the show as usual.  There were a few isolated cases of tears and screams today, but I mostly heard the kids collectively “ooh” and “ahh” over the costumes, the set, and of course over the glitter. My only regret of today's show was that our beloved and juvenile whoopee cushion was inaudible over the sound of an entertained group of young kids.  I think even that's something we can take as a compliment.

The Q&A sessions after each show had a few amusing moments as well. One student asked us if we had a website; I think this was only notable to me because it made me feel a tangible generational difference (read: old). A little girl asked if Hansel was a boy or a girl, and Rihab explained the pants-role convention, taking off her hat to prove her femininity. As though several bets had been settled amongst the kids, there was a rustle of surprise and satisfaction.

Tomorrow, two more shows at two more schools.  We are taking suggestions for car-ride games to play en route.

Photo: The cast and creative team of the Xstrata Ensemble Studio School Tour production of Hansel and Gretel. © Karen Reeves 2011