What's Opera, Doc?: Really Cheap Live High School Performance – 2005, South Plainfield, New Jersey

2005 - High school students perform a no-budget live adaptation of the beloved Warner Bros. cartoon classic, "What’s Opera, Doc?" during the intermission of a chorus concert. Performers include Darren Kaczkowski as Elmer Fudd and Michael Duquette as Bugs Bunny. I found it to be the most entertaining way of introducing opera to students. Filmed by colleague and English teacher Gregory McGinty. Styrofoam clouds and lightning bolts were cut and painted by Peter Assad. Original background music soundtrack and sound effects from the film was custom edited especially for this performance by George Henderson. About the original cartoon: The music was by German composer Richard Wagner. Excerpts used include: The Overture from The Flying Dutchman — opening storm scene Siegfried's horn call from Siegfried — "O mighty warrior of great fighting stock" Excerpt from Rienzi The Overture and "Pilgrims’ Chorus" from Tannhäuser — "O Bwünnhilde, you'w so wuvwy," "Return My Love," and the closing scene The Bacchanal from Tannhäuser — ballet scene between Elmer and Bugs In 1992, the United States Library of Congress deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1994, What's Opera, Doc? ranked No. 1 in a list of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time. The list was conducted via survey by a thousand animators.