Peter and the Wolf fills the house at the Four Arts

Resident Dale McNulty is putting the polishing touches on his performance. He’s about to face a tough audience — 700 school children. That’s how many will attend each of the three free shows of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf the Palm Beach Symphony and Ballet Palm Beach will perform this month. One will be held today at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens and two Nov. 13 at The Society of the Four Arts. McNulty, who is president of the symphony board, was upbeat after the dress rehearsal Monday at the Four Arts. “I’ve been practicing at home with a CD,” he said. “It sounds so much better in an auditorium with live performers. ”The half-hour shows feature 14 dancers and 22 musicians.McNulty is an old hand at playing narrator. He’s narrated the symphony’s schools performances of Camille Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals for the past three seasons. This is the first time the symphony has played a schools concert at the Four Arts. Ballet Palm Beach, which operates a professional dance company and a school in Palm Beach Gardens, has never danced at the Four Arts. The opportunity came up when a puppeteer who had performed the Four Arts’ annual schools show for many years retired. Peter and the Wolf was one the children’s favorites. See more