By Sydney Sangster
The back-to-back operettas, Amahl and the Night Visitors and A Christmas Carol, presented in partnership by Salt Lake Community College’s Grand Theater and the University of Utah Music Department, are ringing in the Christmas season in Salt Lake City. This performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors, written in 1951 by Gian Carlo Menotti, is made possible by the Salt Lake Symphony in collaboration with the University of Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble. Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is presented in a new light under the direction of Utah locals, Michael Leavitt and Anthony Buck.
The Grand Theatre and University of Utah School of Music’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, and A Christmas Carol, performed at the beautiful Grand Theatre is sure to soften your heart as the giving season approaches. First, we meet Amahl and his mother. After three kings visit them on their way to meet the new Christ child, the pair learns how giving can bring about miracles. The evening concludes with a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, in which Ebenezer Scrooge sees firsthand how a little bit of kindness can change the course of a life.
Amahl and the Night Visitors (stage director Dr. Robert Breault and music director Jeffery Price) is an enlightening story about a close-knit family made up of Amahl (Alicia Fairbanks), a young, crippled boy with hope and zeal beyond his reality, and his anxious mother (Alison Saporta), who has given herself to begging in order to provide for her son. The duo is faced with a moral dilemma when three kings (Jose Santelices, Greg Watts, and Dr. Seth Keeton), and their page (Keith Goodrich) visit their humble abode as they journey to meet their new king. As they sleep, Amahl’s mother is tempted by the kings’ wealth. Although she is caught trying to steal some gold-pieces, she is offered mercy and experiences a life-changing event.
A Christmas Carol (stage director Leavitt and music director Price) concludes the dual performance in a joyful fashion, as Ebenezer Scrooge (James Bobick), a mean-spirited and selfish old man is visited on Christmas Eve by his late business partner Jacob Marley (Breault) and three spirits: Christmas Past (Julia Thomas), Christmas Present (John Allen), and Christmas Future (Jana Conrad). The visitors force Scrooge to see the error of his ways and Scrooge awakes on Christmas morning with a fresh zeal for life, as well as a new love and exuberance to serve his loving nephew Fred (Jordan Tolman), and long-time employee Bob Cratchit (Santelices).
With powerful voices and demanding stage presence, you will never guess that many of the actors in each performance are students. The first song of the play, “Amahl! Amahl” delivered by Amahl’s mother (Saporta), will give you goosebumps that will likely not go away until the end of the performances. While the idea of an operetta may be a little daunting, the songs are easy to understand and very enjoyable. “This Is My Box,” sung by King Kaspar (Santelices) leaves the audience in fits of laughter. In A Christmas Carol, James Bobick, the perfect Ebenezer Scrooge, fills the theatre with his voice as he proclaims that he is not past hope.
Costumes, lighting, and choreography are major highlights in these operettas. Choreographer Kyra Furman does a wonderful job of creating movement onstage and offering support to the lead characters by way of the ensemble. Lighting designer Seth Millerfinds the perfect way to make characters glow, and the humble, but believable set sparkle (Halee Rasmussen, scenic design). Chloe Mason, the costume coordinator, brought each scene alive with beautiful textures, colors, and details. The technical design envelops the audience and makes you believe the stories that unfold. It’s easy to get lost in the performance as the Salt Lake Symphony (conducted by Dr. Robert L. Baldwin) strings together a beautiful story with songs that flow right into the next for the duration of each act.
The local crew members, actors, and producers (lead by Grand Theatre Producer, Miller, and Artistic Director over the University of Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble, Breault) clearly love working together. Their joy for the arts is tangible and infectious.
Amahl and the Night Visitors, and A Christmas Carol at the Grand Theatre is an eye-opening way to ring in the season of giving. You and your family will leave with a new resolve to be a little better and a little kinder. You may even find that you have a new love for opera.
The Grand Theatre presents Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti | A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
The Grand Theater, 1575 South State Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Contact: 801-957-3322
December 5-7, 2019, 7:30 PM, December 7, 2019, 2:30 PM
Tickets: $9-$23
Grand Theatre Official Website
The Grand Theatre Facebook Page
Salt Lake Symphony Facebook Page
University of Utah School of Music Facebook Page
Amahl and the Night Visitors | A Christmas Carol Facebook Event
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