Cleveland Opera Theater’s “Amahl & the Night Visitors” Returns Live to Area Churches

Fri 12/17 @7PM

Sat 12/18 @ 7PM

Sun 12/19 @ 3PM

Another staple of the Christmas season — although less ubiquitous than The Nutcracker — is Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti’s one-act opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. It debuted in 1951 and was a reliable TV Christmas offering back in the 1950s, watched by the whole family when viewing options were fewer. Menotti lived to be 95 (he died in 2007) and wrote more than two dozen operas, but this is the only things he’s remembered for today.

The story revolves around a lame young boy, Amahl, who walks with a crutch. In the middle of the night, the Three Kings, on their way to see the Baby Jesus, stop at the home he shares with his mother, looking for a place to rest. On hearing about their mission, Amahl want to give a gift to the child but all he has is his crutch so he offers it. In telling the story, there’s lots of charming and accessible music, in English. That, its appealing story and its short length make it a popular piece to introduce children to opera.

Each year, Cleveland Opera Theater partners with the City Mission to present the work, usually at an area church. Last year, they were only able to present it online. This year, they’ll offer three performances, “across Cuyahoga County in an effort to make the production geographically accessible to Northeast Ohio residents.” It’ll be at the Church of the Savior in Cleveland Heights on Friday December 17; Old Stone Church in downtown Cleveland Saturday December 18; and Rocky River United Methodist Church on Sunday December 19.

It’s free and unticketed; donations will all go to the City Mission’s Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center.

clevelandoperatheater.org/amahl

 

 

Post categories:

Leave a Reply

[fbcomments]