Enduring Affection for Opera and Each Other

Director Stephen Ives’ “Amato: A Love Affair With Opera,” which airs tonight on PBS, is an affectionate and beguiling hourlong look at what might be “the world’s smallest opera house.”

That’s how it’s described by founders Tony and Sally Amato, salt-of-the-earth husband and wife. “But when the curtain opens,” Sally says, “it’s grand opera.”

The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the company, housed in a 107-seat theater in New York City’s East Village. We see rehearsals, backstage confusion and crises, and historical clips of productions stretching back to the first, Puccini’s “La Boheme,” in 1948. We also see the couple’s sustained, loving relationship.

Tony conducts, directs the singers on stage, moves scenery and costumes and helps cook. Sally is lighting designer, bookkeeper, ticket taker, advertising manager, sewing machine operator and general Earth mother.

Amato alums who have gone on to the Met and the San Francisco Opera return to reminisce, but most of the cast and crew, many of whom are volunteers, are not going to have major careers.

And that’s not the point, says Tony. It’s to provide a platform for young American singers to get experience singing on stage, which lessons and workshops cannot duplicate. To that end, the Amatos were mounting multiple operas each season, accompanied by a small live musical ensemble, using their own money, ticket sales and fund-raising.

Even apparent errors in the documentary don’t distract from its charm. Tony relates that he was moved to study singing after seeing Ramon Novarro in a Hollywood film. Tony sings the phrase, “Ridi Pagliaccio,” from Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” in remembrance. But the accompanying film clip, from the 1930 “Call of the Flesh,” shows Novarro singing Des Grieux’s “Ah! Fuyez douce image” from Massenet’s “Manon.”

The Amatos are in their 80s in the film, made in 1998, and Tony is seen visiting a doctor who tells him that he has had successful treatment for cancer. Even so, they and many of their colleagues worry about their remaining vitality. The note at the end of the credits--not the one you expect--is very sad.

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“Amato: A Love Affair With Opera,” tonight at 10, KCET, KVCR.