t's a chilly December night, and I am attending a performance of Gian Carlo Menotti's nativity opera, , at the Church of the Holy Aposdes in Manhattan. Over the course of a single act, tells the story of an impoverished mother and her disabled shepherd son who offer shelter to visitors traveling to Bethlehem. Commissioned by NBC, it was the first opera written for television and made its premiere during a live Christmas Eve broadcast in 1951. Yet tonight, I am seeing a striking innovation in the production of this innovative opera. As I look on, the mother sits at a table, gazing at an empty plate. Nearby lies a sleeping bag unrolled on a cot. The opera's three wise men make their appearance pushing shopping carts and wearing disheveled, eccentric garments, including a giant fur
