There's a new theater company in town: Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre, or SVeLT for short.
Several local artists have come together to create a platform upon which they can bring productions of lyric theater, or theater that is sung, which will encompass works from opera, operetta, and Broadway.
What sets this company apart, organizers said in a press statement, is that they will tour their productions so as to reach the widest audience possible.
The first venture for SVeLT: a production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” a one-act opera by Gian Carlo Menotti, presented Dec. 20-22, with an encore performance on Jan. 5, 2014.
The production opens 7 p.m. on Dec. 20, 2013, at the Grafton White Church. The next day, Dec. 21, the troupe performs at Jamaica Town Hall, also at 7 p.m.
The cast includes Elle Jamieson as Amahl; Julie Olsson as the Mother; John Iverson as King Melchior; Michael Duffin as King Kaspar; David Bonneau as King Balthazar; and Dave Bentley as the Page.
A small ensemble of singers is the chorus. Local dancer Judith Reichsman offers her talents as well. The artists hail from Jamaica, Bellows Falls, Springfield, and Brattleboro, and Swanzey, Keene, and Hanover, N.H.
SVeLT says it's grateful to the producer of River Theater, Heidi Fagin, and some of the actors from their production of “Amahl” under the musical direction of Walt Sayre, and Mike Wright, director.
According to Wikipedia, “Amahl and the Night Visitors” was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on Dec. 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, the same studio where it was broadcast live on television as the debut production of the “Hallmark Hall of Fame.” It was the first opera specifically composed for television in America.