'Amahl'
promises to tug at heart strings
Love
is the message in Christmas opera
by
Jim Crawford
Everybody
loves a feel‑good story that tugs at their heartstrings,
especially at Christmastime.
That’s
the motivation behind the Foothills Community Foundation’s
collaboration with the Desert Foothills Community Education
program to present the opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors.”
Carefree
residents Martha Lindsey and Kevin Glenn have put together
a program they say will not leave a dry in the house–guaranteed.
“It’s
a very dramatic opera sung in English,” Glenn adds.
“The whole program is a real community effort.”
The
Lindsey/Glenn duo are two of the principles in the production
with Lindsey playing Amahl’s mother and Glenn as slightly
deaf King Kaspar.
The
story is about Amahl, a poor shepherd boy, and his mother
who are visited by the three wise men following the
Star of Bethlehem as they trek to visit the baby Jesus
at Christmas.
As
events unfold, the story reveals various sides of human
nature and of the mother’s need to survive and help
her crippled son. The wise men are full of compassion
and understanding, and in the end a miracle occurs,
fittingly at Christmas. The audience will have to see
the production to view the heartwarming ending.
“Love
is the most important element in the opera,” Glenn says.
“We were all actually weeping during rehearsals the
other day. It’s a very powerful and moving story.”
The
husband and wife team have enlisted a cast that includes
professional actors as well as people in the community
to provide their audience with a quality performance
many return to see a second time, Lindsey says.
Joshua Aikin, a sixth‑grader at Grayhawk Elementary
School, makes his singing debut as Amahl. He’s been
under the tutelage of Lindsey, who he says is “fun to
be with. The time goes by so fast because we have fun.”
Lindsey
says the couple’s motivation for appearing in the production
is not to draw any attention to themselves.
“We
do it to touch people’s hearts and souls,” she said.
“The opera transcends religions. It’s about how anybody
wants to perceive. It’s about the music and the story.
So often music brings people together when nothing else
will. And we want to help raise money for a good cause.”
The couple is active in all types of theater and were
attracted to the Phoenix area because of the wealth
of performing and artistic opportunities available here.
“We
actually came here on vacation from New York,” Lindsey
remembers. “We fell in love with the area and the people.”
