1 Peacock, 2 Brothers, and 84 Kids

In the 19 years that the Springs School fourth graders have been putting on an opera, the storylines have often been inspired, more or less, by something that is true about Springs. There may be settings inspired by actual places, characters based on students themselves, and the reflection of school or community spirit. This year’s storyline, though, falls into the “more” category when it comes to inspiration from true events.

The opera, titled “The Peacock’s Tale,” tells of two brothers who immigrate to the United States in the early 1960s without knowing any English. They introduce the sport of soccer to their peers, which ultimately unites the school around a common language — the language of sports — and helps the two brothers make friends and start to learn English.

That really happened in 1962, when Porfirio and Joseph Goncalves arrived in the United States from Portugal to live with their family on a farm in Springs. This year’s Springs fourth graders took the Goncalves brothers’ story and re-imagined it with themselves as the characters — although the main characters’ names and basic plot are the same — along with their own interactions and songs, which ultimately became “The Peacock’s Tale.”

“Where I came from, Portugal, we didn’t have the facilities or anything like we had once we got here,” Porfirio Goncalves told the fourth graders when he visited the school in December. “We were totally surprised with what we found. Sports, soccer especially, made a lot of friends for me. It made it a lot easier for me. I’ve still got a lot of friends today because of it. . . . But it was not easy. We came to Springs not speaking the language.”

Some of the themes are perhaps especially relevant now, given today’s challenges teaching students for whom English is not a first language. Springs has many students in that category, and even has a bilingual kindergarten class.

Porfirio and Joseph are main characters in the opera, but so are a couple of other names well known here: Fred Yardley, a longtime teacher and coach at the Springs School, and Charlie Marder, who befriended the two brothers soon after they arrived here and remains their friend to this day. In a phone interview yesterday, Mr. Marder said he feels flattered to be the inspiration for a character in the opera, and said he vividly recalls his days at the school when the Goncalves brothers arrived.

“It was kind of remarkable,” he said. “They brought so much to the classroom in terms of their cultural background at the time. One of the great things about Springs has always been its social diversity, but, again, at that point, there were artists, writers, Bonackers, fishermen, carpenters, farmers, and tradesmen, but there wasn’t really a Portugese population at all, other than their grandfather. It brought an awakening of the world out there. It’s one thing to have new kids at school, but it was sort of exponential to have new kids from another country in school.”

And where does the peacock fit in? In the opera, she is the narrator — a character created to help move the story along, since the two brothers don’t really speak English in the first act — but she is based on an actual peacock who lived on the family farm on Fireplace Road.

That the opera is in its 19th year is a source of school pride, and it is a vehicle for deep, interdisciplinary learning, according to Sue Ellen O’Connor and Colleen McGowan, the teachers who first established the opera program in Springs based on a model created by New York’s Metropolitan Opera Guild. The students, who call themselves the 84 Hear Us Roar Opera Company based on the number of students in the grade, created their own characters, wrote the lyrics, composed the music with help from teachers and other professionals, and designed costumes, makeup, and sets.

When they wrote the plot, Ms.

O’Connor said, she saw the students arrive at the conclusion and a lesson “logically and organically through self-discovery.”

“You don’t want to enforce a moral. I don’t want it to be a fable,” she said. “I want it to be based on children’s real experiences.”

She and Ms. McGowan, along with Eileen Goldman, the stage director, Lisa Weston, the stage manager and set designer, Angelina Modica, the musical director and co-composer, Kyril Bromley, the arranger, accompanist, and co-composer, and Sara Faulkner, who is in charge of costumes and makeup, all have high expectations for the students in their various roles — and the students rise to the occasion every year.

“I think they find out they can do much more than they think they can do,” Ms. O’Connor said. “There is huge growth. It’s a tremendous confidence-builder. There is self-esteem and empowerment, and it’s authentic.”

The students have seen all of the previous operas and want theirs to be just as good.

“There’s a built-in desire to achieve,” Ms. O’Connor said. “It shows a real sense of cooperative learning. This particular opera celebrates the diversity of Springs and carries out the theme of acceptance, the value of community, and working together.”

Older students come back to help the fourth graders. Tiffany Farez, a seventh grader, came in to coach Sophia Rodriguez, who plays the peacock, on her acting skills, because she knows how much hard work it takes to put on the opera. “You need other people to help you out. If you don’t have other people to support you, then the whole thing falls apart,” Tiffany said.

For her part, Sophia is enjoying the peacock costume, which itself was a team effort. The feathers came from a Halloween costume worn last year by an older student, Ella Eggert. “My favorite part is the feathers,” Sophia said. “It’s a really fun feeling, and it’s amazing how everything in the show looks.”

Over the years, the operas have ranged in length from 12 minutes to just short of an hour. This year’s show will run about 50 minutes. When it opens on Wednesday at Guild Hall, it will be the culmination of more than four months of work. Show time on Wednesday is at 7 p.m. Next Thursday’s show times are 9:30 and 11 a.m., and the closing show will be Friday, Jan. 22, at 9:30 a.m.

“The school funds this very generously. It’s well worth it, and it involves the entire grade,” Ms. O’Connor said. “It’s nice that the school continues to support it.”

Isaac Rodriguez, who stars as Porfirio, is enjoying both being onstage and being backstage because of all the lights and machinery. “It feels like I could do this every single year,” he said, “and I wouldn’t mind it at all.”