What do you give the babe who’s about to receive gold, frankincense, and myrrh hand-delivered by three kings from far-flung distant lands? How about a crutch? “Who knows, he may need one,” little Amahl tells his penniless, widowed mother, “and this one I made myself.” Since its live premiere in prime time on December 24, 1951, Gian Carlo Menotti’s 45-minute Christmas miracle opera Amahl and the Night Visitors has found its way to the far corners of the earth, thanks to multiple subsequent telecasts and no end of local shoestring productions. But apart from the Italian premiere in 1952, with Leopold Stokowski on the podium and a cast headed by the legendary Verdian Giulietta Simionato as Amahl’s mother, big-time revivals involving brand-name talent have been few. For New Yorkers, that changes this holiday season when Lincoln Center Theater mounts Amahl downstairs in the horseshoe of the 299-seat Newhouse. Joyce DiDonato, a diva who knows when not to let star quality eclipse her common touch, appears as Amahl’s mother, on the brink of homelessness. No word as we go to press about other casting (boy sopranos’ careers being short, Amahl is always a wild card). Kenny Leon, whose recent Broadway credits include the acclaimed Our Town and Purlie Victorious as well as Denzel Washington’s Othello, is the director. The designer, to be announced, must be good with celestial phenomena. The Star of Bethlehem has a key role in the action. —Matthew Gurewitsch