The UNCG Musical Arts Guild and
UNCG Opera Theatre present
Amahl and the Night
Visitors
Music and Libretto by
Gian-Carlo Menotti
December 16, 2011
War Memorial Auditorium
The UNCG Musical Arts Guild and UNCG Opera Theatre
present
AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS
Music and libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti
By arrangement with G. Schirmer, publisher and copyright owner
Cast
(in order of vocal appearance)
Mother Susan Adams
Amahl John Norris
Kaspar Blayne Ziegenfuss
Melchior Daniel Crupi
Balthazar Van-Arc Wright
The Page Maclain Thompson
Dancers Mary Beth Bulen
Melanie Greene
Kathryn Skawski
Shepherds and Shepherdesses
Mary Beth Bulen
Jennifer Fijal
Kristen Gobetz
Delaney S. Hovey
Sloane M. Hovey
Jessica Mariskanish
Karen Messina
Iloria Phoenix
Maggie Ramsey
Nicole Ramsey
Kathryn Skawski
Jason Barrios
Harrison Bumgardner
Lesly Dumé
Michael Jacobson
Eric Langer
Will Norris*
Wendell Putney
Matthew Reese
Jacob Wright
* Amahl understudy
The Story of Amahl
Amahl, a crippled shepherd boy of twelve, lives with his mother, an
impoverished widow, in a nearly empty hut. They face a bleak future with little
food to eat or wood for fire. The three Wise Men, on their way to Bethlehem,
stop at the hut and request lodging for the night. Amahl and his mother
welcome them and offer to share what little they have. They are astonished at
the splendor of the Kings’ robes and the gifts being brought to the newborn
child, whom the mother, in her mind, identifies with her own son. The
shepherds, led by Amahl, approach and offer gifts and dances for the Kings.
Following the departure of the shepherds, all retire for the night. The mother
sings of the unfairness of the gifts going to a child whom the Kings do not know,
when she has a child who is starving. Under cover of darkness, while the three
Kings are asleep, the mother steals some of the gold and is caught in the act by
the Page. Amahl awakens and comes to her defense, beating on the Page and
urging Kaspar, one of the Kings, to intercede. Kaspar orders the Page to release
the mother, and Melchior says that she may keep the gold since the Child they
seek has no need of it. The mother is moved by Melchior’s description of the
Child and returns the gold while lamenting that she does not have a gift of her
own to give. Amahl offers his crutch which he lifts and, in so doing, takes a step
without it. The Kings give thanks to God for this miracle, and Amahl convinces
his mother that he should go with the Kings to present the crutch to the Child
himself. As dawn approaches, Amahl sets off with the Kings, and, as the
procession moves away, he plays on his pipe the tune with which the opera
began.
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Notes
What accounts for the popularity of Amahl over forty years after its premiere on
NBC television on December 24, 1951? It continues to receive more
performances than almost any other standard or contemporary opera. I would
imagine that the circumstances under which it was first presented have
something to do with its continuing popularity. Rather than a premiere attended
by a few hundred or even several thousand, the Hallmark Hall of Fame was
watched by millions in 1951 and the following seven years when the opera was
given live televised performances. Few, if any, operas have been afforded such a
launching. But beyond that first decade, it has continued to hold the imagination
of a public, that, I suspect, wants desperately to believe the opera’s essential
message of hope. Amahl’s crippled leg does not prevent his portrayal as one to
whom both parents and children can relate and empathize. The widowed
mother’s unswerving love for her son, even in the midst of poverty and his
tendency to fabricate stories, is as poignant and relevant today as when it was
written. Certainly the opera’s brevity and reduced forces expand both the
potential audience, through its appeal to children, and the number of groups that
can successfully mount a production of Amahl. But beyond these factors, I
remain convinced that Gian-Carlo Menotti has fashioned a miniature
masterpiece that holds our attention dramatically and lifts our spirits
musically… all around a central theme that suggests that it is through giving that
we receive Do you believe in miracles?
-William W. McIver
Artist Biographies
Susan Adams (Mother) received her Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance
from Iowa State University and is currently a second year Master's student at
UNCG in the studio of Dr. Robert Bracey. She created the role of Trish in the
Greensboro Opera/UNCG Opera Theatre’s production of the Mark
Engebretson/David Holley one-act Chicks, premiered at “Opera at the Carolina”
in February of 2011. Ms. Adams’ operatic credits include Zemphira in
Rachmaninoff’s Aleko with Bel Cantati Opera and Pitti Sing in The Mikado. On
the concert stage, she has performed as a soloist in oratorios such as the Brahms
Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert's Mass in G,
and Mozart's Coronation Mass.
Mary Beth Bulen (Shepherdess Dancer) is a first year Master’s student in Vocal
Performance at UNCG. A recent graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, Ms.
Bulen made her operatic debut in Arezzo, Italy as Hero in L’Egisto with the
Oberlin in Italy program. Her other credits include: Lisette (La Rondine), Miles
(Turn of the Screw), and Jenny Slade (Roman Fever). Last month she performed the
role of the second Touriére in the UNCG Opera Theater’s production of Suor
Angelica, and next semester, she will sing Zerlina in Don Giovanni.
Daniel Crupi (Melchior) sang the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at Notre
Dame, where he earned his BA in Music. His other Notre Dame performance
credits include Don Pedro in Beatrice and Benedick and Publio in scenes from
Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, as well as Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf in Into
the Woods. Mr. Crupi has experience in straight theatre, including leading roles
such as John Proctor in The Crucible, the title character in Cyrano, Prospero in The
Tempest and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. Daniel is now pursuing a
Master of Music in Vocal Performance at UNCG in the studio of Dr. Robert
Bracey.
Melanie Greene (Choreographer and Shepherdess Dancer) is a MFA student in
the dance department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Beginning her dance career in high school, she has participated in a variety of
performance endeavors including North Carolina School of the Arts summer
intensive program, Modernextension Dance Company at UNC-Chapel Hill, and
the Martha Graham reconstruction of Steps in the Street at UNCG in spring of
2010. Ms. Greene is dancing in Amahl for the second consecutive year, in addition
to choreographing the shepherdess’ dance this year. As an aspiring teacher,
performer, and choreographer, Melanie is excited to continue studies that
facilitate the intersection of visual and performing arts, pedagogy, and
intellectual scholarship.
John Norris (Amahl) returns for a second year as the title character in our
production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. He is a 7th grader at Caldwell
Academy and a member of the Greensboro Youth Chorus, with whom he
appeared as a Gingerbread Child in last spring’s UNCG Opera Theatre
production of Hansel and Gretel. His other performing credits include the role of
Joseph in Joseph from the Pit to the Palace at Lawndale Baptist Church. He has also
been a soloist with the Bel Canto Company.
Kathryn Skawski (Shepherdess Dancer) is a Junior majoring in Vocal
Performance at UNCG, where she has participated in several UNCG Opera
Theatre productions. Most recently she appeared as one of the Late Lay Sisters
in Puccini’s Suor Angelica in November and in the ensemble of Strauss’ Die
Fledermaus last February. Her musical theatre credits include leading roles at the
Project Challenge Playhouse, including Laurey in Oklahoma!, Sarah Brown in
Guys and Dolls, Cinderella in Into the Woods, and Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof.
Audiences at the Alverson Center Theatre have seen Ms. Skawski as Polly Brown
The Boyfriend and Belle in Beauty and the Beast. She has qualified for the Mid-
Atlantic Regional NATS Auditions four out of the last five years.
Maclain Thompson (the Page), baritone, participated in “Si Parla, Si Canta” in
Italy last summer, where he sang in excerpts from Le Nozze di Figaro (Figaro), La
Cenerentola (Dandini), L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Nerone), Rita (Gasparo), and
worked with Bob Cowart (Metropolitan Opera, Juilliard, and Curtis), Håkan
Hagegård (The Norwegian Academy of Music), David Grabarkewitz (New York
City Opera) and other notable opera professionals. Mr. Thompson’s previous
operatic credits include appearances in the ensembles of Die Zauberflöte with
Greensboro Opera and in last year’s UNCG Opera Theatre Amahl and the Night
Visitors. A Junior Vocal Performance major at UNCG, he studies with Dr. Robert
Wells.
Van-Arc Wright (Balthazar) makes his UNCG Opera Theatre debut in this
production of Amahl. He is a native of Nassau, Bahamas and earned his
Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance at Alabama A&M University before
starting his MM this fall. Mr. Wright appeared with Opera Birmingham in the
ensembles of Aida and Faust and was a featured soloist with the Huntsville
Symphony in a concert version of Porgy and Bess. Other operatic credits include
Escamillo in Carmen, Banquo in Macbeth, and Angelotti in Tosca, and his solo
oratorio engagements include the Brahms Requiem, Mozart’s Solemn Vespers,
Handel’s Messiah, and the Bach Magnificat. He has won numerous awards in the
Alabama and South Eastern Regional National Association of Teachers of
Singing Auditions.
Blayne Ziegenfuss (Kaspar) is a veteran of the UNCG Opera Theatre and is
reprising the role of Kaspar in tonight’s performance of Amahl. He has also
appeared as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Edwin in Trial by Jury, the Circus
Ringmaster in The Bartered Bride, and in the ensembles of The Mikado and Amahl.
Originally from Hendersonville, NC, his stage credits include appearances with
the Greensboro Opera in the ensembles of La Traviata and Die Zauberflöte, as well
as leading roles in musicals such as Guys and Dolls and A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum. Mr. Ziegenfuss graduated yesterday with his BM in
Vocal Performance and studied with Dr. Donald Hartmann while at UNCG.
Orchestra
David Holley, Conductor
Violins
Eve Hubbard, Concertmaster
Julianne Odahowski
Wayne Reich
Roslyn Willis
Jane York
Violas
Diane Neal *
Christen Blanton
Cellos
Diane Bonds*
Kellie Burgess
Bass
Cody Rex
Harp
Bonnie Bach
Piano
Megan Muthersbaugh
Flute/Piccolo
Deborah Egekvist
Oboes
Ashley Barrett *
Thomas Turanchik
Clarinet
Anthony Taylor
Bassoon
Rebecca Libera
Horn
Kate Hopper
Trumpet
Mike Gillespie
Percussion
Wiley Sykes
*principal
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Production Staff
Producer/Stage Director/Musical Director/Conductor David Holley
Technical Director/Lighting Designer Jeff Neubauer
Scene Designer Robert Hansen
Costume Designer Deborah Bell
Wigs and Make-up Trent Pcenicni
Choreographer Melanie Greene
Sound Engineer Danny Slaughter
Special Thanks
Rachel Williams
Erin Stevie
Eric Stevie
Imagine Design and Production
The Norris family
Blondie Johnson
Ann Doyle
Tom Shelton
Greensboro Youth Chorus
Noah Hock
Amanda Hughes
Amy Moore
Dianna Carter
Wyndell Earles
Jourdan Howell
David Weigel
Brian Fuller
James Goins II
Dennis Hopson
Jeff Neubauer
Jody Cauthen
WMAG - 99.5 FM
Susan Wilson
Mitchel Sommers
Community Theatre of Greensboro
Stephanie Cordick
Easter Music Festival
Rhonda Overman
Robert Overman
Starmount Presbyterian Church
Lisa Crawford
Greensboro Symphony
Laura Weston
Scott Johnson
Greensboro Coliseum
John Locke
Charlie Angel
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Upcoming Opera Events at UNCG
February 20-22, 2012
Don Giovanni / Fight to be Favorite (Alejandro Rutty) Carolina Theatre
“Opera at the Carolina” in collaboration with Greensboro Opera
March 29-30 &, April 1, 2012
Don Giovanni Aycock Auditorium
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