Christmas opera at Indian Hill

“Amahl and the Night Visitors” at Indian Hill Music Center opened with a tired woman calling her son in from playing outdoors. He answers “Coming,” but doesn’t budge and she has to call him again…and again. Sound familiar? This folksy, homespun quality of the opera is one of the things that makes it so successful—we recognize everyday things immediately and can relate to the fun, affection, worry and weariness that the characters portray.

“Amahl” was written by Gian-Carlo Menotti over 50 years ago for American television. As such, this chamber opera translates beautifully to an intimate setting like Blackman Hall at Indian Hill. Says director Mary Crowe, “It is not opera as grand spectacle, it was written for the general public and is totally accessible.”

The action is very understandable: the crippled boy, Amahl, and his widowed mother, peasants on the verge of starvation in ancient Palestine, are visited by three kings who are in need of rest while following a star in the East. They are on a quest leading them and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, to an unknown child. The singing is unmuddled as well, no meaning is lost. “Menotti is one of the best librettists,” says Crowe, “the writing is so beautiful, I have the cast read their lines aloud before they begin singing them.” 

But, she warns, “Menotti is not the most straightforward of composers—little places need a lot of work. The singing is a challenge until you come to understand how Menotti composes.” Mary Crowe knows this well as she is not only the director but also stars as Amahl’s mother in one of the two casts (there were four performances over three days featuring two casts of this one-act opera.)

To feed and entertain the kings, the mother goes and gathers other peasants from the village, and the resulting shepherds’ chorus is one of the highlights of the show. Entering from the back of the hall, groups of adults and children come bearing their baskets of fruits and cakes while an enraptured audience looks on. Brad Hamilton came to see his family, in the show. They, like many in the cast, were brought to the production by Debra LeBrun, organist at the Littleton Congregational Church and music director of “Amahl.”

LeBrun has accompanied most of the programs put on by the Opera Workshop at Indian Hill. To facilitate her piano playing, she has the musical score as a computer file which she advances with the clever use of foot pedal—therefore no need to be turning endless pages. Hi-tech doesn’t end there; Debra explains that she needs to keep track of auditory clues from the show to know when to continue playing. “If I played without a headset, all I’d hear is my piano.” As it is, she hears the soloists, the chorus and the spontaneous applause that punctuates the show, especially when the chorus, which she has rehearsed, sing their parts. 

“Debra trains them so well,” praises Crowe.

The two casts began rehearsal at different times, explains Dave Grubbs, who plays King Balthazar with both. Newcomers to the opera began in late September. There was Bryan Sabbag of Norwood as Amahl. His mother was played by Lori L’Italien, a voice teacher from Somerville. This cast included Mark Costello as Melchior and Randy Posey as Kaspar. 

Starting in late October, Ryan Beals of Shrewsbury began rehearsals as Amahl with kings William Kruger and Jesse Heines. Dave Grubbs was not the only singer to be in both casts as John Wray portrayed the kings’ page in each. Moreover, Crowe and Ryan Beals joined the shepherds’ chorus in the alternate production. And many of the shepherds performed in both casts, including Jennifer Hamilton and her daughters, Emma and Olivia. In addition to the singers, the show was graced by a trio of performers from the Acton Commonwealth Ballet portraying peasants who dance before the kings

In the climax of the opera, Amahl’s mother contemplates stealing some of the kings’ gold, “They will not miss it,” she sings, trying to convince herself that her needs and those of Amahl are not less important than the child for whom the kings are searching. When caught and confronted, it is King Balthazar who not only forgives her, but conjectures that he and other kings may have lost sight of the needs of those around them. Just as the singers must come to understand Menotti, it is the lesson of the opera that the characters must come to know each other— and so too, must we in the audience, as we live and love we must work to understand one another. With the holidays upon us, this message is a timely one, however it is also a timeless one, and another reason why this opera remains so popular.

“I love ‘Amahl,’” says Crowe, and she accurately sums it up when she describes it as, “A heart-warming show without being sentimental. It’s a fantasy that you can believe.” It is a show for the ages, something that touches the heart regardless of culture or creed. And it is a family show, both in terms of audience and performers. 

“This is great,” says Brad Hamilton, “because I never get to see my wife and children performing at the same time. The only problem is there was no one to come with.”