Where the Wild Things Are (opera) The same Minnesota production was given at the New York City Opera in November 1987. New York City Opera revived the opera in April 2011. The cast included Danya Katok as Max, Leslie Davis as Mama/Tzippy, and Lawrence Jones as Wild Thing with Beard, Andrew Sauvageau as Wild Thing with Horns, Adam Cannedy as Rooster Wild Thing, and David Salsbery Fry as Bull Wild Thing. Julian Kuerti conducted and Sean Curran was director. This was the first performance in the opera's history where the Wild Things Are was performed off-book, entirely from memory. The published score notes that "all the
Where the Wild Things Are "School Library Journal" sponsored a survey of readers which identified "Where the Wild Things Are" as top picture book. Elizabeth Bird, the NYPL librarian who conducted the survey, observed that there was little doubt it would be voted number one and highlighted its designation by one reader as a watershed, "ushering in the modern age of picture books". Another called it "perfectly crafted, perfectly illustrated ... simply the epitome of a picture book" and noted that Sendak "rises above the rest in part because he is subversive". President Barack Obama has read it aloud for children attending the White House