Learn about kaleidoscopes through opera at Wichita’s Exploration Place

An opera recounting the invention of the kaleidoscope is back in focus this week thanks to Opera Kansas and Exploration Place.

“Mr. Brewster’s Invigorating Invention” will have two free public performances Saturday, May 10, after a week of presentations for Wichita area schools.

An actor plays David Brewster, who invented the kaleidoscope in 1816. Two female singers serve as narrators.

“Mr. Brewster” premiered for Opera Kansas in 2018, the winner of the Zepick Modern Opera Competition.

“This particular year there was a call for a STEM-based children’s show,” said Matthew Schlonegar, executive director. “We really wanted to reach kids with a show that talks about science.”

The runner-up that year, “Mr. Twister and the Tale of Tornado Alley,” was produced last year as a collaboration between Opera Kansas and Exploration Place.

The opera will be performed in the new Wichita Foundation Amphitheater, which opened last fall.

Besides watching the show, kids and adults can make their own kaleidoscopes and eyeball Exploration Place’s giant kaleidoscope.

In between the 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. performances (about 35 minutes each), a food truck is tentatively scheduled to be on the grounds.

Schlonegar said “Mr. Brewster” is fun for kids and adults.

“They tell about the way he invented it, how he got his idea and how it became one of the world’s first ‘viral’ type of inventions,” he said. “Everybody wanted to have this kaleidoscope in their home.”