By Misty Cryer
Carlsbad talent will be on display in Roswell this month as three local performers join a five-member cast for the opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors.”
Avery Westfall is a sixth-grade student at Carlsbad Prep Academy. “The name of my character is Amahl. I will be playing around an 8ish to 11ish little boy who has a hurt leg. He has seen the signs, sort of, that Jesus is coming—like the star. He is trying to warn his mom, but his mom is just as spicy as him and doesn’t like to believe him,” she said.
This is not Avery’s first role on stage. A veteran of Carlsbad Community Theatre, she has performed in Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Pied Piper—The Musical, along with playing the zebra in The Little Lion that Roared at SENMC. About the Cinderella musical, Avery said, “I only had three singing lines, but I mainly acted as townsfolk.”
“I think it is honestly pretty cool that they chose me because I never would have thought that I would be performing an opera in front of so many people,” said Avery.
When asked if she has performed an opera before, Avery said, “Kind of, more so like goofing around though, not real opera. I used to watch Phantom of the Opera and always like to sing the songs, but I have really never done it professionally.”
In reference to playing the lead role in the opera, Avery said, “My mom always told me that one day, I would get my chance to be on stage and that I would be in a lead role.”
Ahmal’s “spicy” mother in the opera is played by Jasmine Sahd, who also encouraged Avery to audition for the opera. “I watched her in the Cinderella show this past year, and we were looking for somebody to play the little boy in the show, and we were trying to find kids that can sing and perform,” said Jasmine. “I could tell she just loved being up there. She had such a really good presence, and I could hear her voice over people.”
Jasmine said she realized that this could be a really rare, good opportunity for Avery to gain experience in the opera. “Kids don’t usually do opera; I wanted her to have a chance to try it and see if she really liked it. She’s doing amazing. She learns really fast. I’m enjoying being able to teach her. If I was her age, this is what I would have wanted,” she said.
“I got a degree in music. My undergraduate degree is from ENMU in Portales, New Mexico, and then I went on to get my master’s and professional studies degree in San Franciso at the Music Conservatory there,” Jasmine said.
“I started in Carlsbad doing Community Theatre plays and singing at the high school and the church, and I ended up doing opera. I’m really excited to do opera here in this area. I really like singing with people that are from the Roswell and Artesia area,” she said.
“When I went to middle school and high school, I had a lot of really good mentors. I had Linda Servold and Kathy Otoupal and Ken Miller who all taught me music. I was really involved with the Community Theatre a little later, and I started doing their musicals with them. I grew up here, so whenever I got my master’s degree and moved back, I just kept performing,” said Jasmine.
Zachary McAlister graduated from Carlsbad High School with the Class of 2020. “I was born and raised in Alamogordo, but I moved to Carlsbad in 2010,” he said. He considers himself to be from Carlsbad. He said he is in his fifth year of college at Eastern New Mexico University and about to go into student teaching.
“I am playing King Balthazar,” said Zachary. “I’ve done opera scenes at Eastern New Mexico University with the Music Department, but for performing in a full opera, this is my first one,” he said.
“I’ve done a whole variety of performances before. Going back all the way as far as high school, I was part of the musical programs,” said Zachary. In his last high school musical, he played the part of Gomez Adams in the Adams Family Musical. “I was nominated for the role that I had in that production to the New Mexico Enchantment Awards,” he said, adding that he also performed at Popejoy Hall when in high school.
“I’ve done a mixture of musical theatre, opera scenes; I’ve done straight plays before. Recently, I have developed jazz piano skills, and even more recently, I had my personal voice recital at Eastern New Mexico University just this past May,” said Zachary.
“This semester at Eastern, I had to sacrifice voice lessons, just trying to finish up my degree here,” he said. He said he looks forward to performing classical and soloistic in this opera. “I’ve been performing with choirs for a good chunk of my life. It’s a rare occasion for me to sing more solo than if I were in a choral setting.”
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