This is the first time it’s done this kind of thing, but it might not be the last.
That is, if the funding can be worked out. And in this economy, that’s a big if.
The Circular Congregational Church is about the stage Gian Carlo Menotti’s one-act opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors on Dec. 14 at 5:30 p.m. The show is free and open to the public. Donations are accepted.
The Circular Church is known for being friendly to local artists. PURE Theatre uses its Lance Hall. The New Music Collective performs in the main hall, as do other music groups.
But this is the first time the church has attempted a production, and this is the first time it has raised money to make it happen.
“The church doesn’t have much,” says Marilyn Taylor, choir director. “More of this kind of thing depends on fund-raising.”
Amahl and the Night Visitors was first produced in the early 1950s and broadcast on national television. It has since become a favorite around Christmas time.
The work has two main characters, a mother and her crippled young son. Taylor asked Laura Wilson, an accomplished operatic singer, to play the adult role. Her 11-year-old student, Hiers Childs, will play Amahl, whose role requires a strong boy soprano.
Wilson is also head of the Charlston Chamber Opera company. The group performed for the first time at this year’s Piccolo Spoleto and plans to perform again at next year’s festival.
“I decided to put this on because I love the piece and because I had two wonderful singers who would handle it,” Taylor says. “And I wanted to catch Hiers before his voice changed.” —John Stoehr
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