Carl Franklin Du Pont Jr.: Amahl (boy soprano) — Poor, crippled shepherd lad
Julia Davidson: The Mother (soprano) — His mother, poor and widowed
Nicholas Wuehrmann: Kaspar (tenor) — A king travelling to the Christ child's birth
Matt Clemens: Melchior (baritone) — A king travelling to the Christ child's birth
David Stork: Balthazar (bass) — A king travelling to the Christ child's birth
The Page (baritone) — Servant to the three kings
Shepherds and Shepherdesses

Gian-Carlo Menotti's main inspiration for Amahl and the Night Visitors is the famous painting, "The Adoration of the Magi", by Flemish Renaisssance artist Hieronymus Bosch. The painting hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. However, it has been written that the real inspiration was a miraculous visit to the Sanctuary of Sacro Monte when the young Menotti was cured of lameness.

Amahl and the Night Visitors was the first opera written expressly for television and it premiered on NBC on Christmas Eve, 1951. It was directed by the composer himself. It was so widely praised that it became a tradition, running on Christmas Eve for the next thirteen years. It was seen on television at Christmastime, however, for more than twenty years! It is considered to be one of the most frequently performed operas of the 20th century.

Amahl, a crippled shepherd boy, is seen and heard outdoors playing his shepherd pipe. His mother calls him in to go to bed. He delays as long as possible but finally takes his crutch and hobbles inside. Amahl tells his mother of the large bright star in the sky and she refuses to believe him. She complains that he is always making up stories.

After Amahl and his mother go to sleep on their straw beds, voices are heard in the distance. Shortly afterward, there is a knock is at the door and Amahl is sent to see who is there. When he hastily returns and informs his mother that there are kings at the door she goes herself and is shocked to discover that Amahl is, in fact, telling the truth.: The kings request lodging for the evening. The mother explains that she is very poor but they are welcome to stay if they wish. The kings speak of the Child they seek and show the gifts they are bearing to his birthplace, led on their journey by a great star. Amahl is sent to rouse the shepherds in the area and is instructed to have them bring food and firewood for their regal guests.

When the other shepherds arrive, they present the kings with gifts of food and they dance. The kings reply with thanks and wish all a good night. After the shepherds leave, the household settles down to sleep. The mother, not yet asleep, sees the magnificent gifts to be given to the Christ child, and decides for her son's sake she must steal some gold to buy food. When she attempts to grab some of the treasure, she is caught by the page, who alerts the kings. Amahl, defending his mother, beats the page with his crutch.

The kings forgive the woman for her misdeed, and prepare to leave on their journey. Amahl, wishing to send something to the Christ child, offers the kings the only thing he has, his crutch. A miracle occurs! Amahl is cured and no longer needs his crutch. The kings invite Amahl to journey with them, and he joins them on their trek to bring gifts to the King of Peace.

Gian-Carlo Menotti was born in 1911 in the mountain village of Cadegliano in northern Italy. From 1923-1928, Menotti attended the Verdi Conservatory of Music in Italy. In 1928, he sailed for the United States and began music studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, one of the most famous music schools in the world. After graduating in 1933, he began his career by writing operas. He made his New York debut in 1938 at the Metropoliton Opera House with his first opera, Amelia Goes to the Ball.

Since then Mr. Menotti has written many operas, plays, concertos, and other musical compositions, some of which he has directed himself. In addition to Amelia Goes to the Ball, and Amahl and the Night Visitors, some of his other famous operas include The Medium (1947), The Telephone(1947), The Consul(1950), and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1954). The Consul and The Saint of Bleecker Street each won Mr. Menotti a Pulitzer Prize in music.

In 1958, Mr. Menotti founded The Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, which became one the most important music festivals in the world. Musicians and artists come from all over the world to perform and to listen to musical works by some of world's best artists. In 1977, he expanded the Spoleto Festival to Charleston, South Carolina (now the Festival indeed was in two worlds!) where he continued to write and direct new operas and plays. In 1984, Mr. Menotti was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor, one of the highest honors given to an American artist. Today he lives in Scotland and in New York City.

Faith. The Kings, though rulers of their own kingdoms, are travelling to find the newborn King of Peace, who they believe to be the King of all Kings. The Mother says that she too has been waiting for such a King. Why are these Kings not threatened by the newborn boy?
Charity. Even though Amahl has nothing of monetary value to offer the Christ child, he wants to give him his crutch, just in case He might need one. Why is Amahl's gift a true gift of charity?
Triumph. Amahl must walk with a crutch, but when he decides to give it away, a miracle happens and he is able to walk without it. How can we triumph over our own problems? How do our problems sometimes triumph over us?
Physical challenge. There are many people who live everyday with physical challenges. What is the best way for us to treat people who are physically challenged?
Investigation. Look in your newspaper or in current magazines for stories about faith, charity, and triumph of the human spirit. How do these themes in Amahl and the Night Visitors still touch us in today's world?

When Amahl and the Night Visitors premiered in 1951:
— The President of the United States was Harry S. Truman
— Juan Peron was reelected president of Argentina
— The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed by Congress: It provided for maximum of two terms service as President.
— J.D. Salinger published "Catcher in the Rye".
— Color television was first introduced in the United States.
— The musical, "The King and I", opened on Broadway.
— Prominent authors included: Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, William Faulkner, Tennesse Williams, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre.
— Eminent visual artists included: Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Otto Dix.
— The most popular films of the year were, " A Streetcar Named Desire", "An American in Paris", and "The African Queen".

Musically, "Amahl" is a masterpiece of brevity and economy of resources.

Menotti's style is the style of Italian opera, romantic and full of melody. The composer's directions for the opera call for costumes and a setting "suggesting Italian peasants," and the only oriental impression comes from Amahl's piping and the answering piping from distant shepherds. The piping requires two oboes. Otherwise winds are single: flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn, with piano, harp and strings.

Menotti's vocal style is quite verbal - that is, the rhythm of the spoken words influences the rhythm and the inflection of the sung melodies, which often helps make the words easy to understand. In the dance sequence the rhythm is a tarantella - an Italian folk dance. (From the conductor, Tippen Davidson)

Baritone - The middle of the male voices, and the middle of the harmony. The part of King Melchior requires a baritone voice.
Bass - The lowest of the male voices, and the lowest part of the harmony. The part of King Balthazar requires a bass voice.
Concerto - A performance 'together' of several instrumentalists and/or vocalists. Gian-Carlo Menotti composed many concerto's.
Oboe - A wooden, conical instrument which possesses a double reed. The oboe dates back to the beginning of the Christian era. The oboe is used to create the sound of shepherds piping.
Opera - Drama set to music, entirely or partially, but, in either case, in such a degree that the musical part of the entertainment ranks as an essential, and not an incidental, element. The date of the first operas is usually given as the turn of the 16th - 17th centuries. Amahl and the Night Visitors is a one-act opera.
Pipe - A gentle-sounding wooden instrument. It is the instrument Amahl uses to play music.
Reed - The sound-producing agent of woodwind instruments made from thin cane. The oboe, clarinet, and bassoon are several woodwind instruments requiring reeds.
Romantic- Romantic music is music in which the expression of emotion takes precedence over the element of beauty and form ( though beauty and form is not necessarily absent). Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera where the character's emotions are the most important aspect of the piece.
Soprano - The highest of the female voices. The role of the Mother requires a soprano voice.
Tarantella - A dance which takes its name from Taranto, in the heel of Italy, or from a spider common there, called the Tarantula, whose bite is alleged to be poisonous and to cause the disease known as Tarantism, of which disease the dance is supposed to be a cure. The music is in compound duple time and of great rapidity. The shepherds dance for the three kings is a tarantella.
Tenor - The highest of the male voices, and the highest part of the harmony. The part of King Kaspar requires a tenor voice.

In live theatre, unlike movies and television, the actors can hear (and often see) you as easily as you can hear and see them. If you comment out loud at a live show, or read or eat, you disturb not only other members of the audience but also the people on stage, thus diminishing the performance and, ultimately, your enjoyment of it.

This doesn't mean you have to remain silent. Actors want you to respond with laughter and applause; but such responses should always be genuine and appropriate to the moment. Such inconsiderate behavior as shouting, catcalling or sustained whispering, even during blackouts, can ruin the concentration of actors and audience members alike. And throwing paper or objects of any kind towards the stage is not only rude, it's also extremely dangerous to the performers.

In the event of any student misbehavior, the relevant school will be contacted and its principal informed.

We want you to enjoy your visit to Seaside Music Theater, and we rely on you to exercise your common sense and mature judgment. Thank you for being a valuable part of our audience this season.

Daytona youngster has title role in play
Move over, Mike Todd, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS has a new adaptor and he's doing it his way.