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Amahl and the Night Visitors

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Ferndale Repertory Theatre proudly announces its annual Holiday production - Amahl and the Night Visitors opening November 26th. The music and libretto are by Gian Carlo Menotti. One of the most well-known and best loved American operas, Amahl and the Night Visitors has the distinction of being the first opera commissioned expressly for television.  At the request of NBC, Menotti composed this one-act opera (under one hour long to fit television’s 1/2 to one hour format for TV shows) as the first televised opera in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” series. It premiered on Dec. 24, 1951, broadcast live from NBC Television Theater studios in NYC.  The original filmed version of the debut was played every year at Christmastime for several years, until the film was lost. The inspiration for the opera was the painting “Adoration of the Magi” by Hieronymus Bosch. 

It is the story of Amahl, a poor lame shepherd boy, who often angers his mother with his habitual exaggerations and story-telling. As the story opens, he is telling her about a great star he has seen in the night sky. Later she is again angered when he informs her that there are not one nor two but three kings at the door. These kings are actually following the great star bearing incense, gold, myrrh and other lavish gifts for a child they are seeking. Amahl and his mother welcome the kings into their humble lodgings and gather the neighboring shepherds and shepherdesses to entertain them.  .

The story is dramatic and interspersed with humor as well.  The music is lush and exotic, lively and majestic, and invokes another time and place. The characters are broadly drawn, and according to the composer’s instructions, “all the action and characterizations should be dictated by Amahl’s point of view: the seeming severity of the mother, the occasionally colloquial conduct of the three Kings, the visit of the shepherds, the theft of the gold, and the miracle - all these should be interpreted simply and directly in terms of a child’s imagination.” stated Menotti. Amahl means hope in Arabic. This One Act opera is perfect entertainment for the entire family and Ferndale Ca is absolutely enchanting during the holiday season. The evening will end with a Holiday Music Sing Along with audience members.

Amahl and the Night Visitors Features Elisabeth Harrington, HSU vocal professor and one of the north coast’s most spectacular voices, as the Mother; Jacob Smith, who played the lead in FRT’s production of Oliver last holiday season, as Amahl; Luke Sikora most recently in FRT’s summer blockbuster RENT, James Wright, a UC Santa Barbara trained opera singer and Steve Nobles  an HSU graduate who studied with Dr. Sheila Marks and Dr. Harley Muilenburg, as the three Kings, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar; Jeremy Webb as the king’s Page; and a host of familiar community theater adults and children in the chorus of Shepherds and Shepherdesses. The Production Staff includes: Music/Vocal Director: Dianne Zulegar, Vocal Direction: Elisabeth Harrington, Scenic Design: Daniel C. Nyiri, Lighting Design: Bridget Barsotti, Costume Design: Karen Kenfield, Choreography: Linda Maxwell, Costume Crew: Diana Stephens & ElisaBeth Schatz, Property Master: Sandy Lynn, Master Electrician: Derek Howard, Set Construction: Jeremy Webb, Pianist/Keyboard: Justin Ross & Jonathan Webster. Show sponsors; The Bansen Family and Clendenen Cider Works.

Amahl and the Night Visitors opens Friday November 26 and runs until December 19. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $18 General Admission and  $16 Students/Seniors (65+) Call - 1.800.838.3006  or go online to -  www.ferndale-rep.org. Ferndale Repertory Theatre - Entertainment Worth Experiencing!

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