Pittsburgh Savoyards Doubles the Christmas Spirit with the Staging of Two One-Act Plays

  

 Chuck Cohen, Dr. Gregory Patrick, Josh Berkey, Chelsie Clydesdale in a Scene from Amahl Credit all photos: Matt Lisiak

      If you leave the theater after sitting through the two Christmas-themed offerings of the Pittsburgh Savoyards, then there’s nothing left to say to you but Bah Humbug!

        First on the evening’s enchanted docket is the heart-warming, tear inducing Amahl and the Night Visitors, which tells the touching story of a young disabled boy and his mother who encounter the Three Kings during their journey to Bethlehem as they follow the mysterious guiding star.

Lynea Csefalvay and Chelsie Clydesdale in a Sene from Amahl

        Following intermission, the setting, props and costumes advance 2000 years into the future in a musical retelling of the classic O. Henry short story, “The Gift of the Magi.”

        “We’re staging the two works in chronological order starting with Amahl in Israel, then, after intermission, moving forward to 20th century New York,” said Robert Hockenberry, who will direct both and also adapted Gift with music by Paul Yeater.

        Amahl hadn’t been done by the Savoyards in 25 years, and judging by the suggestions from some of the audience surveys, it was time for another look. As far as Hockenberry knows, the Savoyards are the only theater group staging Amahl this Christmas season.

        Composed by Gian Carlo Menotti, the sung through musical, Amahl, beautifully captures themes of compassion, faith and the true spirit of Christmas. The Gift of the Magi is a timeless tale of selflessness and love as a young couple sacrifices their most treasured possessions to give each other the perfect gift.         Considering the subject matter of the two works, the pair is a perfect thematic match.

        Scheduled to run three consecutive weekends in December, the double bill’s opening week coincides with Light Up Night on December 2 in Bellevue, home of the Savoyards’ Margaret Partee Performing Arts Center.

        The role of Amahl is double cast. On some nights, Matthew Frantz, an 8year-old CAPA student, whose mother used to perform with the Savoyards years ago, will perform the role. On alternate dates, 12-year-old, Chelsie Clydesdale, who’s sung in the Savoyards’ chorus before, is cast in the lead.

        “The role of Amahl is very difficult for a child to sing,” Hockenberry said. “It requires a trained voice and makes Gilbert and Sullivan look like child’s play.”

        One of the issues Hockenberry said he had to consider as director is keeping in mind that the composer is very specific that the story be told from the eyes of a child. One of his directorial challenges was getting his cast of professionals and semi-professionals to see through the eyes of children.

  Logan Newman and Jonahcharis Brown in a Scene from Gift

        Because of its recent adaptation, Gift is billed as a world premiere. Hockenberry first wrote the text and lyrics, then handed them off to Yeater to write the music. With some minor changes in the lyrics, the final text is in a typical musical form and includes six songs with two reprises.

        Hockenberry said he chose Yeater to write the music because the two have known each other for years and have similar musical sensibilities.

        “My adaptation lines up with O. Henry’s, short, five-page  story line of two people in a New York apartment with a flashback,” Hockenberry said.

        To flesh out the work, he said he read about 300 other O.  Henry stories and pulled out other characters who could fit the narrative.

        “I made it so everyone lives in or around the apartment building so their lives have a reason to intersect,” Hockenberry said.

  Logan Newman and Jonahcharis Brown in a Scene from Gift

        Both plays together involve a total of 19 characters, six leads plus a chorus in Amahl, 13 in Gift. That’s a lot of costumes, and, considering the fact that Amahl hasn’t been done by the theater in two and a half decades, those costumes have to be created from scratch. They also include lavish costumes for the kings and must reflect the different parts of the world they come from.

        As to the stage, it’s designed so it can change from Israel to New York in fifteen minutes. To make it easier on the crew, one side of the set represents Israel in 5 B.C., the other is New York City in 1907, complete with furniture and even a fireplace.

        Now in his 12th year with the Savoyards, Hockenberry joined the group in the spring of 2011. It was a time he said when they did two Gilbert and Sullivan shows a year and were struggling to get enough people to fill the cast.

        “Since then, the quality of the cast and the productions have improved and the marketing department has done a better job getting the word out,” Hockenberry said. “Recently, I’ve noticed that our audiences are starting to trend younger.”

        Starting in 2020, the Savoyards started to explore the idea of also doing non-G&S productions and expand to other classic stories. The thinking was that those not a fan of G&S might want to come in a give the Savoyards a try in something else.

 

        Now in its 86th year, The Savoyards bear testimony to the continued popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works in the Pittsburgh area. Hockenberry also said that G&S are very popular in Japan, and their work is doing well in Europe, judging by the International G&S Festival in Buxton, England, which brings in as many as 30 different theater groups to the event.

        Besides his work with the Savoyards, Hockenberry choreographs for Stage 52 in Carnegie, directs and acts at the South Park Theater and is the technical director for the theater program at Peters High School.

        Robert Hockenberry will direct Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Gift of the Magi at the Margaret Partee Performing Arts Center, 523 Lincoln Avenue in Bellevue on December 1, 2, and 3, 8, 9 10 and 15 and 16. For tickets, visit https://www.showclix.com/event/amahl-magi.