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WESTERN NEWS Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
Tuesday <strong>November</strong> <strong>13</strong> <strong>2018</strong> 11<br />
A BURNSIDE High School<br />
student is set to star in the first<br />
opera put on by Christchurch<br />
residents since the earthquakes.<br />
Grant Weihs will play the title<br />
role in the nativity story Amahl<br />
and the Night Visitors<br />
on Saturday.<br />
The production<br />
marks the first time<br />
in almost 10 years<br />
– when The Magic<br />
Flute was on stage in<br />
2009 – that a locallyproduced<br />
opera<br />
has been offered<br />
to Christchurch<br />
audiences.<br />
United States<br />
composer Gian Carlo Menotti<br />
wrote Amahl and the Night<br />
Visitors in the early 1950s. It is<br />
centred around a young disabled<br />
boy called Amahl, who is played<br />
by Grant.<br />
The show is a one-act opera<br />
about Amahl, who has a<br />
fondness for tall tales.<br />
His mother has to live with his<br />
active imagination, but is also at<br />
her wit’s end trying to put food<br />
on the table and secure a future<br />
SCHOOLS<br />
Burnside student in<br />
lead role as opera<br />
returns to the city<br />
for her son. After Amahl tells<br />
his mother about a star “bigger<br />
than a window” over their roof,<br />
she retires to bed, but then three<br />
kings turn up on the doorstep<br />
looking for somewhere to stay<br />
for the night. They are<br />
fed and entertained, and<br />
offer Amahl a chance for a<br />
better life.<br />
The play will have a<br />
family-oriented matinee<br />
performance at 2pm on<br />
Saturday.<br />
It will then be on stage<br />
again during an evening<br />
programme of handpicked<br />
seasonal choral<br />
Grant Weihs<br />
music starting at 7.30pm at<br />
the The Piano: Centre for Music<br />
and the Arts.<br />
Produced and directed by<br />
Broadway veteran Ravil Atlas,<br />
and featuring the Atlas Voices<br />
Ensemble, the evening will end<br />
with the New Zealand premier of<br />
Hodie by US composer Z Randall<br />
Stroope, complete with brass<br />
octet, organ and percussion.<br />
•Tickets for both<br />
performances are available<br />
at http://atlasvoices.nz.<br />
<strong>News</strong><br />
Walk your dog to the moon and back<br />
EVERY MAN and his dog is<br />
being encouraged to walk the<br />
distance from the earth to the<br />
moon to raise funds for animal<br />
welfare.<br />
The SPCA’s newly-created<br />
nationwide event Walk Your<br />
Dog to the Moon will see owners<br />
and their dogs walk the distance<br />
of 385,500km to help raise funds<br />
for animals in need.<br />
Registered moonwalkers in the<br />
city attended an official launch<br />
event at the beginning of the<br />
month at Bottle Lake Forrest<br />
and were attended by about 150<br />
people.<br />
As of last week, participants<br />
have fundraised about $98,000<br />
for the organisation through<br />
individual fundraising pages.<br />
The launch event was set up by<br />
Fusion Events and had moonwalkers<br />
head into the forest and<br />
over the sand dunes.<br />
There was a race village with<br />
a “doggie rest station,” a Bean<br />
Supreme barbecue, live music<br />
and water stations.<br />
The fundraiser comes as new<br />
research conducted by SPCA<br />
revealed many Kiwi dog owners<br />
aren’t doing as much as they can<br />
to look after a family pet.<br />
Findings showed 60 per cent<br />
of New Zealanders think a dog<br />
should be walked at least seven<br />
times a week.<br />
But in reality, fewer than 30<br />
EXERCISE: Ace and Charlie walking at Bottle Lake Forrest. Ace<br />
is a furrbassador for the SPCA’s Walk Your Dog to the Moon<br />
event. He was rescued by SPCA and readopted. <br />
per cent of Kiwi dog owners are<br />
actually doing this.<br />
SPCA CEO Andrea Midgen<br />
said the goal of the fundraiser is<br />
to raise money to help animals<br />
in trouble.<br />
“It’s also about encouraging<br />
dog owners to get out walking<br />
more. This research has shown<br />
us that Kiwis’ expectations<br />
around dog walking are very different<br />
from the reality,” she said.<br />
The SPCA is aiming to raise<br />
at least $150,000 nationwide<br />
through the event. All funds<br />
donated will be used to directly<br />
help rescue, rehabilitate and<br />
rehome animals.<br />
A $12 registration fee applies<br />
and each participant will receive<br />
a doggy pedometer, doggy bandana<br />
and a welcome pack.<br />
•To register for the event<br />
go to www.walktothemoon.<br />
co.nz<br />
TICKETS ON<br />
SALE NOW.<br />
Grab your early bird tickets now for Canterbury’s<br />
biggest day out, the New Zealand Agricultural<br />
Show (formerly the Canterbury A&P).<br />
The Show will be held at the Canterbury Agricultural Park from<br />
14 to 16 <strong>November</strong>. Witness ordinary people doing extraordinary<br />
things, with the best of the best competing in woodchopping,<br />
endurocross, livestock and more! This year, we welcome a<br />
strongman competition, medieval mayhem and all the old Show<br />
favourites you have come to love.<br />
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW AT WWW.THESHOW.CO.NZ
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