by Dennis Dalman
Twenty-three historic life-sized puppets will take the stage – along with 60 singers, musicians and puppeteers – when a dazzling production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” is performed Dec. 13-15 at the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater at St. John’s University.
The musical play will be performed Friday and Saturday (Dec. 13-14) at 7 p.m. both evenings, with a Sunday, Dec. 15 performance set for 2 p.m. Each show will last for one hour with no intermissions.
The performances will be a special event by the St. John’s Prep School Theater Department in conjunction with the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University Fine Arts Program.
“Amahl and the Night Visitors” is a classic, landmark one-act opera written by Gian Carol Menotti, an Italian composer and playwright. It is about a crippled boy (Amahl) and his mother interacting with the three kings who stopped to rest while following a star to the birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem. The heartfelt theme of the opera evokes the powerful importance of faith, forgiveness, compassion and healing.
The opera, written for television, premiered on NBC-TV on Dec. 24, 1951 and subsequently became a TV seasonal favorite around Christmas-time throughout the years.
What is historic and unique about the St. John’s Prep production are the exquisitely crafted puppets. They are the actual puppets commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II of the British Empire in 1967. Two of the puppets (Kings Balthazar and Melchior) were based on the figures in Hieronymous Bosch’s great painting, “The Adoration of the Magi.” They were created by the Little Puppet Theatre of London, England for the grand opening of Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1967.
Through a serendipitous chain of events, the puppets came to be precious artifacts for St. John’s Abbey in 2008. Extraordinary care has been given to the puppets in preparation for the performance at the SJU Humphrey Theater.
St. John’s Prep Theater Director Paul-Vincent Niebauer told the Newsleaders a bit about the puppets’ background.
“Through our connections with Lyndie Wright (puppeteer emeritus of The Little Angel Puppet Theatre of London), St. John’s Abbey received the “Amahl and the Night Visitors” puppets in 2008,” Niebauer said. “Our students rehearsed six days a week for seven weeks learning the fine art of puppetry in preparation for this glorious and entertaining opera.”
Manipulation of the puppets on the stage is a feat of intricate coordination by the puppeteers. They cause the puppets to move by a series of long rods attached to the puppets, which are anywhere from 40-96 inches tall. The puppeteers are obscured in black clothing and black face masks within a darkened background as they move the puppets, controlling their body attitudes and their gestures. It takes at least two puppeteers to manipulate each puppet. Just one puppeteer is responsible for all of the movements of the feet of Amahl, the boy on crutches.
Niebauer said the theater team lavished tender-loving care on the puppets to be sure they would be ready for a stage performance after so many years.
“We are thrilled this production is bringing together so many members of our community,” he said.
Tickets for the play-musical are $20 for general-public admission. The address of the Steven B. Humphrey Theater is 2840 Abbey Plaza on the SJU campus.
To purchase advance tickets, visit the following website: sjprep.net/events/theatre.
This is a scene from the play-opera in which Amahl (left) meets King Caspar, one of the three kings on their way to visit the newborn Christ child in Bethlehem. On the way, they stop to rest at the humble home of Amahl and his mother. King Caspar’s puppet movements are made by student puppeteers Oliva Shu (head and right hand), Anna Kremer (right hand and parrot) and Ho Kwan Hong (torso).
This is Amahl with his crutch, the key figure in the St. John’s Prep production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors. Amahl’s head and right hand are maneuvered to move by student Erin Volker, his left hand by student Aksel Henry-Newman and his feet by Cerys John.
