Evento

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Mission Opera to feature Christie Lynn Lawrence and Carolyn Val-Schmidt in Gian Carlo Menottis best-known opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, with shows scheduled for Friday, December 6, through Sunday, December 8, 2019, at Los Angeles Mission College (the 6th and 7th) and Santa Clarita United Methodist Church (the 8th). The touching story of the "Night Visitors" follows the Three Kings following a star to Bethlehem to meet the Christ child.

Amahl is the most performed of Menotti's 25 operas. Menotti famously quoted, This is an opera for children because it tries to recapture my own childhood. In Italy we have no Santa Claus. I suppose that Santa Claus is much too busy with American children to be able to handle Italian children as well. Our gifts were brought to us by the Three Kings, instead.

It is the first American opera commissioned and composed specifically for television when it was commissioned by NBC and performed on Christmas Eve in 1951, in New York City, where it was broadcast live around the world. The opera tells the Christmas story from the view of a widow and her crippled son, living in poverty, and the miraculous visit to their home of the three kings, who are following the star towards Bethlehem. Mission Operas Artistic Director, Dr. Joshua R. Wentz says This show will always be popular, not because its a Christmas show, but because it leaves the audience with hope for a better future a hope still unknown.

Amahl and the Night Visitors will last only one hour with no intermission.

PERFORMANCE TIMES & LOCATIONS:

7:30 p.m. Friday, December 6 Los Angeles Mission College
7:30 p.m. Saturday, December 7 Los Angeles Mission College
2:00 p.m. Sunday, December 8 Santa Clarita United Methodist Church

CAST LISTS:

Christie Lynn Lawrence (Dec. 6 & 7) and Suzanna Guzmán (Dec. 8) as The Mother
Matthew Craven (December 6 & 7) and Hannah Rose Stubbs (Dec. 8) as Amahl
Dick Hughes as King Kaspar
Joshua R. Wentz as King Melchoir
Brandon Coprich as King Balthazar
Gary Schertz as the Page

PURCHASING TICKETS
Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for seniors and $20 for students with a current, valid ID. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Box Office one hour prior to each performance, or online at www.missionopera.com

PARKING AND DIRECTIONS
Parking is free and available on Eldridge Avenue in Sylmar (LAMC show) and in the Faculty/Staff Parking Garage at LAMC (located at the corner of Eldridge Avenue and Pasha Street). Parking is free and abundant at Santa Clarita UMC for the Sunday show in Santa Clarita.

DONATIONS
Benefits available for individual or corporate sponsors. Donations are 100% tax-deductible and can be made online at www.missionopera.com

PUBLIC RELATIONS & MEDIA
Contact: Dr. Joshua R Wentz at (307)350-0373 or wentzj@laccd.edu
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