Nostalgia seems to be waxing high, as grandparents and parents take their young children for complimentary hot chocolate in the lobby on this cold day after a snowfall. This is likely the first opera for many of these children— some very young and ALL well-behaved. It may have similarly been the first opera for the adults taking their charges to the seats.
An insert in the Playbill reminds us that Amahl and the Night Visitors by composer Gian Carlo Menotti was the very first opera written for television, as opposed to the stage.
Many of us walk into the theater knowing that mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is going to hit the ball out of the park. But it is actually the crisp oboe theme, that first injects the hall with tingling anticipation. The oboist stands among us in the aisle, donning a scarf with gold trim that shines in the dark. His regalia is in contrast to the bare stage, where Joyce DiDonato makes her entrance.
In this adaptation, the opera is less than an hour. DiDonato is the mother of a crippled boy played with preternatural stage presence by charismatic young Albert Rhodes Jr. He’s a dreamer prone to exaggeration by his mother’s account. Three great baritone kings en route to meet Baby Jesus make their entrance from the aisles, just like the oboist. Their page catches the mother trying to steal gold so that her crippled son and she can survive. Through the miracle of the season, the son walks, runs and dances. The Kings forgive the mother of her crime and all ends well—- bookended by the magical oboe theme returning.
A special highlight is the dance performance ringing the stage by the peasants who have come to supplement the mother’s bare cupboard.
Lincoln Center’s Adaptation and Star Power Makes For Must-See Theater
If you too have seen and perhaps suffered a bit from the unedited longer versions of this opera, you will appreciate the perfection of this rendition.
Joyce DiDonato is dressed in the plain garb of a very poor peasant woman that still can’t hide her diva prowess. Every singer and dancer in this production is flawless.
Flawless, is a word to describe the production as a whole.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
CAST:
Jesse Barrett
Patrick Bessenbacher
Phillip Boykin
Tynan Davis
Joyce DiDonato
Miastasha Gonzalez-Colón
Bernard Holcomb
Brian Jeffers
Kathryn McCreary
Johnathan McCullough
Kingston Nahm-Korn
Manuel Palazzo
Albert Rhodes Jr.
Bryanna Strickland
Todd Thomas
Natalie Trumm
Miguel Ángel Vásquez
Olivia Vote
Madeline Wright
Jason Zacher
CREATIVE TEAM:
ComposerGian Carlo Menotti
LibrettistGian Carlo Menotti
DirectorKenny Leon
Steven Osgood (music direction), Derek McLane (set design), Emilio Sosa(costume design), Adam Honoré (lighting design), Marc Salzberg (sound design), Ioana Alfonso (choreography), The Telsey Office, Karyn Casl, CSA and Destiny Lilly, CSA (casting), Melissa Wegner and Brian Speck (Metropolitan Opera Casting Consultants), and Bonnie Panson (stage manager).
WHEN:
December 16, 2025 - January 4, 2026
WHERE:
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
150 W 65th Street
New York, NY
TICKETS:
For more information and tickets visit the Lincoln Center Theater website.
Click here to read more Picture This Post Lincoln Center stories.
This story has been added to the Picture This Post roundup article on OPERAS WE LOVE.
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About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
