By Misty Cryer
“Amahl and the Night Visitors,” a classic Christmas opera concert, will be performed in Roswell on December 22. Of the cast of five, three members are from Carlsbad with a co-founder of one of the hosting organizations being a public servant to our city.
Devon Bullock, Music Director with Way Way Off Broadway (WWOB), said the production is a collaboration between WWOB and the Roswell Symphony Orchestra (RSO). Tony Souza, Fire Chief of the Carlsbad Fire Department, and his wife, Summer, serve on the WWOB Board of Directors and fulfill staff positions as well. Devon said, “They are not only founding members; they started the company and do the majority of all work to produce our shows. Summer will be doing the lighting and costume design for the opera.”
“Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera debuted for television audiences across the country on Christmas Eve in 1951, inspired by a Dutch painting of the three wise men presenting gifts to the newborn Jesus,” stated a press release written by Leah Romero. “The opera will bring the spirit of the holidays to life with a 30-member orchestra and the region’s Way Way Off-Broadway Theatre Company, as well as volunteers from the Roswell Symphony Chorus, the Roswell High School Choir, the New Mexico Military Institute Choir and dancers from Studio+ in Roswell,” the press release stated.
Cast members listed on the press release include Avery Westfall as Amahl, Jasmine Sahd as The Mother, Scott Bracken-Tripp as King Kaspar, David Rocha as King Melchior, and
Zachary McAlister as King Balthazar.
Avery Westfall, Jasmine Sahd, and Zachary McAlister all said they are from Carlsbad, and they discussed prior local performances they have participated in along with local mentors.
Avery said she is most excited to be able to sing in front of so many people.
“I really like the story,” Jasmine said about the opera. “I think it’s touching and kind of light-hearted.”
“What I like about it is that it tells a story of the three wise men on their way to see the Baby Jesus. It’s a really nice Christmas story,” Zachary said.
“I really want to encourage people to come see it if they’ve never seen an opera. Jasmine said. Since this was written for television originally, she said, “It’s a really ideal opera for people who have never seen an opera before; this would be a good first one to watch.”
The performance will be at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 22, at Pearson Auditorium at 101 W. College Blvd. on the New Mexico Military Institute campus in Roswell.
Tickets to the opera can be obtained at the Roswell Symphony Orchestra website (https://roswellsymphony.org), where seats are reserved. “All students/children are free, including college students with student IDs,” said Kate Graham, Concert Operations Manager with Roswell Symphony Orchestra.
“I think it would be a really amazing thing to encourage students to come out and watch the opera because I don’t know how many times people in this area are going to be able to see something like this,” said Jasmine.
She said she knows that Roswell Symphony Orchestra has done operas before, but they do not happen very often.
“I’m hoping they see that there is a lot of talent here in New Mexico and they see that there’s a lot of people that like seeing the opera, and they’ll do more. That’s what I hope because I could do these all the time,” she said.
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