138 years later and the Metropolitan Opera, aka the Met Opera, has its first Black-led and composed show, Fire Shut Up In My Bones.
The entire performance is based on Charles M. Blow’s memoir with the same title that focuses on the tribulations a Black journalist faces and how he overcomes traumatic events in his past. In 2019, the world debut of Fire Shut Up In My Bones premiered at the Opera Theatre house in Saint Louis.
The production received high critical acclaim from the New York Times and became a part of the Met Opera’s famous fall/winter programming.
The nearly 4,000 seats in the Met Opera were sold out for the anticipation of this beautiful ensemble and the majority-Black cast performed an intimate narrative on Black life in the rural south.
The production is based around Blow’s upbringing in Louisiana and the sexual abuse and racism he encountered coming into his manhood. Renowned performance artist, Camille A. Brown, choreographed the adaptation and made history, being the first Black director to organize a Met Opera performance.
Brown’s career in Opera is long and successful, she is just coming off of the praise received by the choreographed scenery in the famous Opera, Porgy and Bess. Her re-adaptation of a 30-year-old production has given her the household name she built for herself in the exclusive NYC world of elite theatre.
The new production opened on September 27 and runs through October 23rd. The month-long programming features a cast full of Black stars, and the co-directed production by James Robinson and Camille A. Brown is retelling history by breaking more spaces for Black artistry.
Tickets for this historical show start at just $95 and can be found here.
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