Saint of Bleeckerstreet

The Saint of Bleecker Street is an opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English libretto by the composer. It was first performed at The Broadway Theatre in New York City on December 27, 1954. David Poleri and Davis Cunningham alternated in the role of Michele, and Thomas Schippers conducted. It ran for 92 consecutive performances.
The opera is through composed, and set in the intensely-Catholic Little Italy of New York City in 1954. It follows Annina, a young and simple woman who is blessed with the stigmata. She often hears voices and sees visions of the angels. Her brother, Michele, is an atheist who is intensely protective of his sister; he believes she requires hospitalisation, but he cannot stop the rest of the neighborhood from believing her a saint.