Amahl and the Night Visitors
December 7-9, 2007
Sandy Creek Barn, Greensboro
The tender, heartwarming story of Amahl and the Night Visitors is Menotti’s most popular opera and the most frequently performed opera in the United States. Expressly written for television it premiered on NBC on Christmas Eve, 1951 and was repeated thereafter for sixteen Christmas seasons.
When NBC commissioned the 40-year-old Menotti to write a Christmas opera he could not come up with a subject. He despaired until one day, while strolling through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he chanced upon and was inspired by the famous painting “The Adoration of the Magi.” The idea of the Night Visitors was born. He wrote into it some of the magical sounds he remembered from his youth during St. Nicholas’s festive visits to his mountain village in Italy where he was born.
Amahl has been translated into dozens of languages and is so great in its appeal it has become one the universal symbols of Christmas and the Christmas spirit. This opera was written, scored, rehearsed and premiered in only a matter of weeks. Amahl is in fact, a composite of characteristics of Menotti himself with his tendency towards pranks and his Italianate love of exaggeration. There is also a real life link between the two as well. During a brief time in his childhood Menotti was slightly crippled. His leg was blessed in front of an image of the Madonna in a sanctuary near his home and was healed shortly there after.
Only and hour in length the one act opera Amahl with its beautiful score and touching libretto (the opera is sung in English) is appealing to all ages and musical backgrounds. It was written specifically for young imaginations which can easily relate to a child with a head full of dreams. It remains an inspiring story of how faith, charity, unselfish love and good deeds can work miracles.
The December 2007 production of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors marked a special achievement for OPAS. The first performance open to the public, it set the benchmark for performing arts in the community, showcasing a breathtaking quality in talent - cast members included Metropolitan Opera baritone Frederick Burchinal, soprano Monica Murphy and precocious 11-year-old Marcello Marsalli - and in production.
Sponsored by George and Char Edwards, produced in collaboration with the Athena Grand Opera and University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music, Amahl was shared by delighted audience members at Greensboro's Sandy Creek Barn and at Athens' Classic Center.
Music & Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Conducted by Gary DiPasquasio
Directed by Roman Terleckyj
Costume Design by Zack Brown
Lighting Design by Mikel Gambuto
Choreographed by Kimberly Dawn Smith
Amahl - Marcello Marsalli
Amahl - Adam Howell
Mother - Monica Murphy
Mother - Anne Brittain
King Kasper - Dallas Bono
King Melchior - Frederick Burchinal
King Balthazar - Frank Ward, Jr.
Page - Andrew Frazier
Page - Ben Dawkins
Page's Asst - Luciano Marsalli
Rehearsal Pianist - Grant Jones & Gary Arnold
Stage Managers - Rebecca McBee & Aaron Miller
Costumer - David Roberts
Make-Up & Hair Design - Elsen Associates, Inc.
Prop Master - Douglas J. Stanley
Stitchers/Dressers - Lynda Duthler, Becky Hayes
Barbara Rainey & Christine Ranta
Technical Director - Ernest Rogers
House Manager - John McKenzie
Orchestra Manager - Aaron Durst
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