‘The Little Prince’ Highlights Kennedy Center Holiday Shows
By • December 11, 2025 0 352
A sold-out fantastical and spirited opera, “The Little Prince,” is a premiere feature of the family-friendly holiday shows that are being performed during the holiday season at the Kennedy Center — like the National Symphony Orchestra’s sold-out show, “Home Alone,” earlier in the week.
Celebrating the innocence and imagination of childhood, the classic tale “Le Petit Prince” written in 1943 by exiled French pilot and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was composed as a tuneful opera by Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Porter. Porter is known for her lyrical, emotionally rich scores, and is teamed with librettist Nicholas Wright to adapt the beloved book—one of the most translated and best-selling books ever—for the operatic stage. The result is a tuneful, imaginative work that captures the novella’s dreamlike spirit while giving its characters vibrant musical life.
It is performed by the Kennedy Center’s Cafritz Young Artists and the Youth Chorus with the National Symphony. The Cafritz Young Artists program of the Washington National Opera is made up of young singers, pianists and coaches on the verge of international careers. The Washington-based program provides intensive voice lessons, language classes, career guidance and master classes with Washington National Opera staff and guest artists.
The Young Artists also have the opportunity to perform and cover roles in WNO productions, and to create new roles in WNO’s new works program, the American Opera Initiative. Each season, the Young Artists sing a fully staged performance with an orchestra in the Kennedy Center Opera House as part of the WNO season (such as “The Little Prince”) over the holiday season, as well as members of the WNO Children’s Chorus.
“The Little Prince” was first performed as a holiday show in 2014 and has quickly become a favorite of Kennedy Center holiday show fans. Performed in English, “The Little Prince” is a beloved classic written in 1943 in the midst of World War II, that celebrates the innocence and imagination of childhood, often cited as a “a poetic and philosophical exploration of what is essential in life and emphasizing that “what is essential is invisible to the eyes.”
Saint-Exupéry’s story about “The Little Prince” tells the story of a pilot stranded in the Sahara—essentially the same situation Saint-Exupéry found himself in the time—who meets a young prince from a tiny asteroid. Its four iconic main characters who are featured in the opera as well, are the narrator (the pilot), the Little Prince, characterized by his curiosity and his love for a single rose; a fox, who teaches the prince about taming and responsibility, and a snake, who helps him return home. On a deeper level, the story addresses themes of loneliness, friendship, love and loss. Critics write that despite its style as a children’s book, “The Little Prince” makes observations about life, adults and human nature.
“Families are flocking back to the Kennedy Center, and we’re excited to present family-friendly classics like ‘The Little Prince’ this holiday season,” Roma Daravi, Vice President of Public Relations at the Kennedy Center, told The Georgetowner. “This story encourages children—and all of us—to keep our sense of wonder and imagination alive. It is a heartwarming tale that reminds us that anything is possible. My hope is that when families visit our nation’s cultural center, they feel inspired by what they experience here and that some children leave dreaming of performing on the Kennedy Center stage one day.”
Performances are:
Friday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 13 at 12 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 14 at 5 p.m.
More information on how to get tickets can be found here.
