By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Andrew Truett as Don Pepe, The Parrot and Andrea Jones as Nanita, with Nanita’s shoes, a prop from Cincinnati Opera for children, How Nanita Learned to Make Flan. (Brandi Stafford/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Maia Surace, a Cincinnati Opera education ensemble member, as La Luna The Moon. (Brandi Stafford/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Gregory Gerbrandt strikes a pose as a coyote. (Philip Groshong/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Composer Enrique GonzÇlez-Medina and librettist Campbell Geeslin. (Philip Groshong/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

The Old Woman (Maia Surace) and the Ranchero (Gregory Gerbrandt) dance in a scene from the opera. Both performers play multiple roles in Nanita. (Philip Groshong/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Nanita is sleepwalking in her colorful new shoes. The music twists and turns as her magic shoes take her farther and farther from home. The moon comes out and sings a song, and a coyote howls. When the sun comes up, little Nanita discovers that she is lost.

Welcome to an opera for kids, How Nanita Learned to Make Flan, the first children's opera to be commissioned by the Cincinnati Opera. The company's education ensemble will perform the opera's world premiere Saturday at the Fitton Center for the Arts in Hamilton.

"For me, the magic shoes were a big deal," says Enrique Gonzalez-Medina, 49, the opera's composer. "Also, the father-and-daughter relationship is really beautiful. There's a moment when the father comes back and calls out for his daughter, who's lost. That just tears me up every time. That is a very strong moment for me."

"The big treat is seeing something that is very quiet - you hold a story in your hands, or you read it out loud to a child," says Campbell Geeslin, 78, whose charming book, How Nanita Learned to Make Flan (Athenaeum; $16) was the basis for the opera. "And opera makes it so big. It's just an incredible expansion of everything. I sit there at rehearsals, and tears run down my cheeks."

The creators, Geeslin, a native of Brady, Texas, and Tijuana, Mexico-born Gonzalez-Medina, were in town last week for rehearsals of this new, 45-minute opera. They had met in person just a day earlier but seemed like old friends. For seven months, they e-mailed and Fed-exed cross-country, between their homes in White Plains, N.Y. and Los Angeles, as Geeslin penned the libretto and Gonzalez-Medina fine-tuned the music.

"Enrique told me he picked my story, because he had always wanted to write music for a sleepwalking scene," says Geeslin, smiling. "When (Cincinnati Opera) said that they were interested in turning my book into an opera, I fell to the floor in total astonishment. Because it was literally the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me."

"Every year we struggle to find good works for young audiences, that are spirited, creative and appealing," says Naomi Hoyt, director of education for Cincinnati Opera.

The company decided to commission a new work, that would "reach out" to a new and growing audience - the Hispanic community, she says. The company is partnering with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cincinnati, The Spanish Journal, Su Casa, and other Hispanic organizations to help publicize the performances.

IF YOU GO

What: How Nanita Learned to Make Flan, a family opera by Enrique Gonzalez-Medina; libretto by Campbell Geeslin, presented by Cincinnati Opera Education Performances: Saturday - 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., Fitton Center for the Arts, Hamilton (limited seats, call 241-2742 for ticket availability). March 13 - 10:30 a.m., Dixie Heights High School, Edgewood May 15 - 10:30 a.m., Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park Cast: Andrea Jones (Nanita); Andrew Truett (father, parrot); Maia Surace (Senorita LaBamba, Old Woman, La Luna the Moon); Greg Gerbrandt (Mayor, Ranchero). Hillary Spector, director; Carol Walker, music director. Tickets: $3; 241-2742 Information: The program (in Spanish and English) and the teachers' study guide is online at www.cincinnatiopera.org.

ABOUT FLAN

Flan (pronounced "flahn") is a sweet custard dessert that is popular in Spain and Mexico. It is normally made with eggs and milk, with a caramel coating. Author Campbell Geeslin adapted a Spanish recipe for flan, printed in his book, How Nanita Learned to Make Flan, illustrated by Petra Mathers (Atheneum Books; $16) "I was hoping to have something simple enough for a child to make," he says. Here's the recipe: Nanita's Flan 8 tablespoons, plus 5 tablespoons, of sugar 4 teaspoons of water 6 eggs 1 cup of fresh orange juice Juice of half a lemon 1 teaspoon grated orange rind 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind Over low heat, stir constantly 8 tablespoons sugar and the water in a heavy pan or small skillet. When it darkens into caramel, divide and pour the syrup into six oven-safe cups. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly whip the eggs with a wire whisk until light-colored. Beat in the remaining sugar and gradually add the juices and rinds. Continue beating until you can't beat any longer. Then give exactly 10 more strokes. Pour the mixture into the cups. Place the cups in a pan of shallow hot water and bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the custard comes out clean. Remove the cups from the water and cool. Do not refrigerate. To serve, flan may be unmolded onto dessert plates. Janelle Gelfand

Mexican composer Gonzalez-Medina emerged as the ideal candidate, and he selected Geeslin's book. The commissioning cost was a relatively low $5,500, with $8,000 more for sets and costumes.

Geeslin started writing children's books and novels after a distinguished career in journalism, including a stint at the New York Times. He sets his books in Mexico, because, growing up in west Texas, he spent many summers there as a child.

"It was a magical place in my memory," he says. "This (book) happened because one time in Mexico City, my parents took me to a restaurant called El Papagayo - the parrot - and I ate flan for the first time. I have been smitten by flan ever since."

It is an enchanting tale. Nanita is a cobbler's daughter in a tiny Mexican town. Her First Communion is coming up, but her father hasn't yet made her shoes. So she makes them herself, using colorful scraps, and the shoes magically transport her through the desert.

Nanita stumbles upon a ranch, where the cruel owners put her to work, Cinderella-style. She is forced to sweep floors and whip up flan, a baked custard coated with caramel, each night for their dessert. A funny parrot befriends Nanita, and leads her back to her papa.

The cruel Ranchero and Old Woman dance a Cuban rumba as they exult over Nanita's delicious flan. At the opera's end, the townspeople turn out for Nanita's First Communion, and everyone dances to mariachi music.

Gonzalez-Medina's musical score for piano and singers is rich in Latin dance rhythms. There are Argentine tangos, a Cuban habanera, Spanish fandango and a cumbia, from Colombia.

"There is so much liveliness to the music, we were all just dancing during the staging," says baritone Greg Gerbrandt, 26, who plays the triple roles of ranchero, coyote and mayor.

Despite all the Latin rhythms, the writing is never cliche - it is sophisticated, witty and descriptive. Senorita LaBamba, a dancer (wonderfully sung by mezzo Maia Surace), swivels her hips in her Mexican dancing dress. Nanita sings an aria to her doll, "Song of the Hours," a sweet moment by soprano Andrea Jones, 30.

There are songs for the sun and the moon, who wear huge, imaginative headpieces with streamers of ribbon.

The composer says he is influenced by many Latino composers -such as Silvestre Revueltas, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Alberto Ginastera and Manuel de Falla.

But he also looks to Mozart and Puccini. His humorous ensemble numbers echo Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, an opera he admires. The sassy parrot (comically portrayed by tenor Andrew Truett, 29) recalls Mozart's Papageno (The Magic Flute).

"It's not easy to write for children," says Marc Scorca, president and CEO of Opera America, a Washingtonbased service organization for opera companies. "There can be a tendency to write down for children. They're a very sophisticated audience. If something is silly or dull, children will let you know."

"When I write my music, I want the audience to like it," says Gonzalez-Medina, whose works have been performed by the San Antonio Symphony and San Diego State University. "But, there's nothing simplistic about this opera. It's very difficult to sing; the piano part is challenging, and at the same time, I think it's a satisfying work for them to perform."

What made Geeslin's book ideal for opera was the range of emotion in the story.

"You go from silly behavior on the part of the parrot, and the next minute, Nanita and her father have a touching reunion," says Geeslin, who is a lifelong opera fan.

What's next for the author?

"Elena's Serenade. It's about a little girl who wants to be a glassblower, but little girls in Mexico never become glassblowers. So she disguises herself as a boy, and goes to Monterrey, a glassblowing center.

"When she blows on the pipe to make glass, music comes out. And it's magic music that causes wonderful things to happen."

Perhaps, he muses, it's another opera.

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com