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Here's the plot synopsis for the opera we did at my church for Christmas. I thought it would help you to get the feel for what's going on with the songs I submit from the show.
"Amahl and the Night Visitors"
The story centers around a widowed mother and her crippled son Amahl. They are extremely poor and on the verge of having to go and beg for food just to survive. The mother has grown weary of Amahl's stories and lies, and does not believe him when he tells her of of the great star with a tail in the sky. She scolds him for his lying and breaks down when she thinks of her poor crippled child having to beg in the streets with her so that they can survive. Amahl comforts his mother and tells her that he must be a beggar, than he will be a good one, and they will be ok. They end the song by saying goodnight to one another...
As they sleep, the three wise men are weary on their journey to see the newborn Christ child. They are seeking a place to shelter from the cold and rest for the night, and decide to stop at the house of Amahl and his mother. They knock on the door and Amah's mother tells him to go and see who it is. His mother, thinking that once again he is making up tales, does not believe him when he tells her of the kings and their paige at the door. She finally gets angry and tells Amahl that she is going to see who it is for herself, and is shocked to find that he was telling the truth and there are indeed 3 Kings at the door.
She invites them in to her humble home stressing that they have not much more than a bed of straw to offer them, which the Kings accept graciously. She and her son are amazed at the wonderous and beautiful things they are carrying with them. When Amahl's mother goes to gather some wood for the fire, the inquisitive boy questions the Kings about where they are from and what they are carrying. Kaspar, a partially deaf, but loveable and well meaning man, show the boy his box filled with wonderful trinkets and offers the boy some licorice.
When the mother returns, she scolds Amahl for bothering the kings, and sends him out to gather the other shepherds to bring food to offer to the kings (as they have none to offer them). After the boy leaves on his task, the mother probes the Kings about the beautiful gifts they carry and whom they are for. She is shocked to find that they are taking all these beautiful and precious things to a child whom they do not even know, and she is confused as to why noone brings such things to her own child who is starving and in need.
The shepherds arrive just as the mother is overcome with emotion and jealousy towards the other child who is to recieve these gifts which she wishes were for her own son. The shepherds present their food to the kings and engage in a lively dance to entertain them. The evening ends with the Kings bidding everyone goodnight, for they need their rest in order to continue their long journey the next day. The shepherds leave and the household all go to sleep... except for the mother.
She has stayed up all night staring at the gold and obsessed with helping her child. She talks of the gold and wonders if rich people truly know about the real treasures of life and how their gold could help someone like her and her child. She finally cannot stand it any longer, and decides to steal just a small amount of the gold to help her child thinking that they would never miss such a small amount.
As she reaches into the coffer to steal the gold, she awakens the paige who immediately cries out "THIEF!" and wrestles with her to get the gold back. Amahl, protective of his mother, defends her as best he can, and beats the paige with his crutch telling him "Don't you dare hurt my mother" One of the Kings, Melchoir, steps forward and stops the paige from assaulting the woman. Melchoir forgives her for taking the gold and tells her that she may keep it, for the child they are seeking does not need the gold. He tells of the Christ child whose kingdom will not be built on worldy treasures but on love, and that his kingdom will belong to the poor.
The mother, overcome with the reality of who this child they seek is, cries out to the kings to take back their gold, and wishes that she could send something of her own to give to the child. Amahl suggest that he will give the child his crutch that he made himself, when to the shock and utter disbelief of all he discovers that he is healed and can now walk. His sacrifice of being willing to give up the one last thing he owned to the Christ child brought on this miracle of healing, and they all rejoice as he leaps around and dances for the first time in his life.
Amahl than asks his mother to go with the Kings to deliver the crutch to the child himself, and gives thanks for healing him. The mother who is unsure at first, with the coaxing of the kings, agrees that Amahl should go with them. The last moments of the show are Amahl and his mother saying their goodbyes as she prepares him for the journey. With one last touching embrace, Amahl sets off with the Kings to see the Christ child on his new strong legs and with his mother waving goodbye and crying tears of joy for what she has witnessed.
That's pretty much the whole jist of the story.. a very touching one with some really nice music. We had a good time putting this on and really enjoyed the experience. The young man who played my son, was a real trouper. The music is difficult as it is (it's menotti.. hard stuff). And if that wasn't enough, his voice started changing right before the show, so he struggled through the whole thing. But he never complained and even with his voice problems, pushed his way through the show and did a nice job. What a good kid he is 
Hope y'all like the selections i'll upload of the live performances. I'll upload a couple of pics from the show to my photo album on here...
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[font=andalus]We Are the Music Makers, and We are the Dreamers of Dreams...
We are the Movers and Shakers of the World Forever it Seems...[/font]
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