Behind the Curtain Christian Thee
Christian Thee takes young readers on a backstage tour of the theatre at an operatic performance of Hansel and Gretel. Through colour oil paintings, he takes the reader from the lobby into the audience, onto the stage, and finally during Act III, backstage. Curtains that lift up and die-cut pages create a three-dimensional scene to show the hidden performance. We watch the theatre manager and stagehands at work; meet members of the orchestra, lighting dirctors, costumers and make-up artists; and see the promoter ready to help any performer who's forgotten a line. We learn how sets are constructed, how props are handled, how flying witches fly and burning witches burn. Some panels are die-cut to look through; some have pull-up curtains unveiling another layer of the performance.