Riverside boy takes lead role in opera at Lincoln Center

NEW YORK -- Eli Abbasi might not be thrilled about all the work that has piled up in the last two weeks he has missed classes at Eastern Middle School, but that won't matter much when he takes the stage of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center on Saturday.

The 13-year-old Riverside resident is taking on the title role in a production of "Amahl and the Night Visitors," a one-act opera by composer Gian Carlo Menotti that is put on regularly at Christmas time.

It's an enormous role, and Eli, who auditioned with the encouragement of his mother, will be performing among seasoned professional singers.

"I've sung in front of people before, but never like this," said Eli, after a full day of rehearsal recently at Columbia University, more than 50 blocks north of the concert hall.....

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