Opera Orlando to Present AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS for the Holidays

"Look, Charlie Brown, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big Eastern syndicate, you know." - Lucy van Pelt, from A Charlie Brown Christmas

Lucy is probably wrong about the "big Eastern syndicate," but her point is well taken. For most of us, the very reason for celebrating Christmas has been plowed over long ago. Opera Orlando, through its upcoming performances of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, will do more than its part in helping to restore a spiritual sense to the holiday season.

This "Christmas opera," which, in 1951, was the first opera commissioned for television, will receive seven Central Florida performances, highlighted by three Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts presentations in the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater on Saturday, December 9, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 10, at 2 p.m. This will be the second mainstage presentation in Opera Orlando's 2017-2018 Love Lost and Found season.

This will be the second consecutive year the company will present Menotti's masterpiece. "Like so many others, I find this work to be irresistible," explained Robin Jensen, Opera Orlando's music director, who once again will conduct Amahl. "The story, the music, and the characters seem directly wired to the heart. The creative team we've put together are devising a production that will only magnify the magic of this work."

The opera is set right at the time of the birth of Christ and focuses on the three kings shortly before their arrival at the legendary manger. Their encounter with Amahl, a precocious, crippled shepherd boy, results in comedy, drama, and a miracle. Menotti, who composed the music and wrote the libretto, asks that the opera be "interpreted simply and directly in terms of a child's imagination," exactly the goal of this production.

Co-directing with Cara Pfost, the company's production manager Grant Preisser is planning a fantasy-filled "planetarium" experience to explode Amahl's vivid imagination into the theatrical sky. In this scenario, the star of Bethlehem becomes another character in the story. "Our goal is to transport our audiences to fully experience the wonder of the season," said Preisser.

The role of Amahl calls for a boy soprano. Three area children-Austin Bonneau (a student at Altamonte Christian School who had studied voice at the Lochwood Academy for the Performing Arts), Jahdai Ramirez (a member of the Opera Orlando Youth Company who has been a vocal soloist with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra), and Jeremiah Tacey (a student at Howard Middle School and a member of the Opera Orlando Youth Company)-will take turns performing the opera's title role.

Central Florida-based mezzo soprano Morgan Davis Peckels will bring to life the key role of Amahl's mother. Peckels had been Opera Orlando's social-media manager, but her crowded performance and teaching schedule together with the anticipation of her first child caused her to make some changes. "I love Opera Orlando, and I am thrilled to be making my principal debut with the company as Amahl's mother," she said. "And taking on a maternal performance role while pregnant is something I know I will cherish for a long time."

Tenor Peter Rodrigues returns as the hard-of-hearing King Caspar; bass-baritone Joseph Colsant will make his company debut as the majestic King Melchior; and baritone Chevalier Lovett, an Opera Orlando board member, will perform the role of the mysterious King Balthazar. Baritone Cody Barth will play the kings' pompous page, and the Opera Orlando Chorus and Children's Chorus will represent the local villagers.

Utilizing choreography by its artistic director, Robert Hill, the Orlando Ballet again will provide the opera's bucolic dance episode with company principals Kate-Lynn Robichaux and Arcadian Broad. A chamber ensemble provided by the Orlando Philharmonic will join Jensen on piano to realize her critically acclaimed arrangement of the orchestral score.

Amahl will be a major component of Opera Orlando's community outreach this season. Three special studio performances of Amahl will be presented. The first two are in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida and are free for kids. They are scheduled for Tuesday, December 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Winter Park Women's Club, and Sunday, December 17, at 3 p.m. in Winter Garden's Roper Ballroom. Adult tickets for these performances are $25. On Tuesday, December 19, the troupe travels to Nemours Children Hospital in Orlando for a performance for their young patients and the hospital staff at 12:30 p.m.

The final performance of Amahl this holiday season will include members of the Orlando Philharmonic and the Orlando Ballet and will be part of the Gaylord Palms Ice Festival and its Sounds of the Season on Wednesday, December 20, at 8 p.m. Tickets for this performance are available at www.gaylordhotelsnews.com/GaylordPalmsSoundsOfTheSeason.

Tickets cost $29 to $59 for the Pugh Theater performances and are available at drphillipscenter.org or by visiting or calling the Dr. Phillips Center Box Office at 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando; 844-513-2014. For full details on Amahl and the entire 2017-2018 Love Lost and Found season, visit www.operaorlando.org or call 407-512-1900.

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