Cyril and Libbye Hellier returned to the stage for the title roles of Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel", for The New Opera Theatre, New Orleans. In the 1988-89 season, they alternated as Bastienne in the child Mozart's "Bastien und Bastienne" for the same ensemble. In the final season of The New Opera Theatre, they appeared in a Benefit Concert also featuring Natalia Rom. In April 1991, the Helliers were soloists in Part III of Handel's "Messiah" (in the Foundling Hospital Anthem version), at St Francis de Sales Cathedral, Houma. In October 1992, the sopranos made their New York debuts, as Kindred (Cyril) and Cousin (Libbye)
Comic opera Comic opera Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, "opera buffa", emerged as an alternative to "opera seria". It quickly made its way to France, where it became "opéra bouffon", and eventually, in the following century, French "operetta", with Jacques Offenbach as its most accomplished practitioner. The influence of the Italian and French forms spread to other parts of Europe. Many countries developed their own genres of comic opera, incorporating the Italian