CONTENT SUBMITTED
Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors returns to the Cleveland Opera Theater stage this holiday season after Covid-19 forced the production into the digital realm last year. Performances will take place December 17-19, 2021 across Cuyahoga County in an effort to make the production geographically accessible to Northeast Ohio residents. In the spirit of the holiday season, this production is presented free of charge thanks support from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Kulas Foundation with 100% of donations received supporting The City Mission’s Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center.
For 10 years, Cleveland Opera Theater and The City Mission have come together to produce this holiday favorite. Michael Parry, Donor Relations Officer at The City Mission, says Amahl is not only an inspiring story and beautiful musical gift to the greater Cleveland community, but “it generates awareness of and support for The City Mission’s work. We are happy to partner with Cleveland Opera Theater on this production.”
The mission of Cleveland Opera Theater is to advance opera through innovative, accessible, and inclusive experiences. While this generally means for our audience members, the company also makes a concerted effort to collaborate with Cleveland’s myriad training programs to feature and promote local professional artists including younger singers starting their professional careers. As in 2019, this year’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors will feature members of Cleveland Institute of Music’s youth choirs supplemented by select adult singers, under the direction of Conductor Jennifer Call. She says, “this beautiful story of hope and kindness is a perfect close for our Fall semester and for our return to ensemble singing after the year apart. Performing in this production is always a wonderful collaboration to introduce our young singers to opera and the art of storytelling as part of a professional production.”
About Amahl and the Night Visitors:
Based on Italian folk tales of the Nativity and Epiphany, Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors is a retelling of the story of the Magi from the point of view of a young shepherd named Amahl, who needs a crutch to walk and lives in poverty with his widowed mother near Bethlehem. They receive visitors, three kings, who seek shelter on their journey to bring gifts to a newborn child. A vivid and accessible tale originally created for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors is truly an opera for all!
About Our Production:
Performances are free and un-ticketed. Cleveland Opera Theater is enforcing strict preventative measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 including socially-distanced seating for attendees. Visit Clevelandoperatheater.org/amahl.
Friday, December 17, 2021 @ 7:00p – Church of the Saviour, 2537 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118 Saturday, December 18, 2021 @ 7:00p – Old Stone Church, 91 Public Square, Cleveland, OH 44113 Sunday, December 19, 2021 @ 3:00p – Rocky River United Methodist Church, 19414 Detroit Rd. Rocky River 44116.
View more information here. https://www.clevelandoperatheater.org/amahl
Another “girl-plays-the-boy’s role” production? …totally against Gian Carlo Menotti’s stipulation that the title role should be sung by a boy soprano. If you can’t find a boy soprano in Ohio, then do another opera.