Hansel and Gretel (1963 film) Hansel and Gretel (1963 film) Hansel and Gretel is a 1963 Australian TV adaptation of the opera "Hansel and Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck. It screened as an episode of "Wednesday Theatre" in 1966. It was an early role for Jackie Weaver who played Gretel and was aged 16; she had just appeared as Cinderella in a pantomime at Philip Street. Brian Gilbert, who played Hansel, was 13. The show was recorded during the visit to Australia of Australian conductor Charles Mackerras. He consducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra while the opera was videotaped. Sydney Morning Herald commented on the limitations of
Liebe und Eifersucht which became a major influence on the development of German Romantic opera. He wrote his own libretto for the earlier work "Liebe und Eifersucht", based on August Wilhelm Schlegel's translation of a play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, "La banda y la flor" ("The Scarf and the Flower"). Hoffmann composed the opera in 1807. The opera was not performed in Hoffmann's lifetime. It was first published by Schott in 1999. and premiered at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele on 27 July 2008, at the Forum am Schlosspark in Ludwigsburg, in a coproduction with the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, where it