New WSB sponsor: “Amahl and the Night Visitors” opens tonight

| Fun stuff to do | Holidays | WS culture/arts

For everyone who missed out on some of the usual pre-holiday fun because of Snowstorm ’08 — tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday, you have four chances to make up for it, with four performances of Twelfth Night Productions‘ “Amahl and the Night Visitors” at Youngstown Arts Center here in West Seattle. Twelfth Night is sponsoring WSB through the weekend to get the word out — here’s its announcement of the show, which it has presented annually for more than a decade:

Twelfth Night Productions celebrates Twelfth Night with its twelfth annual performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors, a short opera by Gian Carlo Menotti.

This fully orchestrated production of Menotti’s brilliantly scored opera tells the story of a poor young shepherd and his mother who receive a visit from the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem: “Amahl’s mother welcomes the royal sojourners, who rest in the small, bare house where love and faith work miracles during the night.” (Publisher’s Weekly, 1986)

“Our production has become a tradition for many families in the Seattle area. It is a beautiful way to close the holiday season,” says artistic director Mary Opland Springer. Each year many cast members, musicians, and dancers return to recreate the magic of this beautiful opera.

Twelfth Night Productions is a non-profit performing arts organization located in the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. This production features several artists from the West Seattle community as well as the greater Seattle area.

Amahl and the Night Visitors runs in a special limited engagement at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the former historic Cooper School, in West Seattle. Showtimes are: Friday, January 2nd, and Saturday, January 3rd, at 7:30 PM, with matinees at 3:00 PM on Saturday (1/3) and Sunday (1/4). Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students & seniors, and are available through Brown Paper Tickets (www.brownpapertickets.com), and at the Youngstown Theater on performance days.

Due to the popularity of this production and limited seating availability, we recommend purchasing tickets in advance. Amahl and the Night Visitors is produced through special arrangement with G. Schirmer Publishing Inc.

Here’s the direct link to the Brown Paper Tickets page for “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” We thank Twelfth Night Productions for supporting WSB with this sponsorship, and we hope you’ll support the local performing arts by enjoying “Amahl and the Night Visitors” this weekend!

Alysha Marie Ryder January 2, 2009 (11:40 am)

this is a nice production that is nice done every year, this is my very first year to be in the choir for Amahl and the night visitors and i love it. it’s so fun to do every year my mom has done this for over a year now and she loves doing this its so entertaining to sing along with the whole thing and the characters change every year but not all the characters.anyway what i am trying to tell everyone is that this is a great this to attend you should really come if you have nothing to do tonight, saturday, or sunday cause we want to see all the tickets thanks and se you later :)
-Alysha Marie Ryder

Ashley January 3, 2009 (1:31 pm)

Amahl has been one of our treasured holiday traditions for several years. We always look forward to seeing how the players have grown and watching new actors tackle the rolls. This year’s show did not disappoint. Great job everyone!

Ruthi Winter January 3, 2009 (1:41 pm)

For those of you who were lucky enough to be in the audience of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on opening night, you were treated to a wonderful rendition of this operetta by some bright, new talent. I’ve been to every Amahl performance put on by Twelfth Night Productions for the last 11 years and this year I am totally dazzled by little young Amahl, played by Hans Thoreson and his mother, Betsy Koehler. This new talent brings a special sparkle into this timeless opera. It’s also very special to have a live orchestra accompany the cast with some great music. If you’re looking for some entertainment to wrap up the holidays, you can’t miss by checking out this group of talented performers at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

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