Sat 12/17 @ 7PM
The early days of television were very different from today. There was only a handful of channels and instead of slanting its coverage to elect a monstrously unqualified reality show host president of the United States (Walter Cronkite is spinning in his grave), it broadcast “high culture” — theater and concerts often specifically made for TV.
One such piece was the one-act opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, written by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by NBC and first aired in 1951, it has become a Christmas staple, telling the story of a young disabled boy at whose humble home the three kings stop on their way to see the Christ child.
Cleveland Opera Theater will do one special performance of the short opera at Holy Rosary Church in Little Italy. The performance is free with a donation to the City Mission for the Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center, so be generous. They are looking for disposable diapers as well as money.
clevelandoperatheater.org/amahl
Cleveland, OH 44106