Mark Gresham | 21 OCT 2021
On September 27, Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones became the first opera by a Black composer ever performed at the Metropolitan Opera, opening the company’s new season.
Terence Blanchard, composer
In a Met tradition that returned for its 15th season, the company simulcast its opening night performance, free, to multiple screens in Times Square in New Your City. And for the first time, the company expanded its season-launching transmission to Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park.
These audiences, numbering in the thousands, joined the 3,600 audience members who attended the historic live performance inside the opera house.
This Saturday, October 23, at 12:55 pm ET, the final Met performance of Fire Shut Up in My Bones will be transmitted live from the Metropolitan Opera House to hundreds of movie theaters across the world by Met HD, including 11 cinemas in metro Atlanta, for viewing by live audiences.
Local cinemas hosting the ticketed event can be found online at: www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/theater-finder
Check with your chosen cinema for pandemic safety protocols for its location.
(Content advisory: Fire Shut Up in My Bones addresses adult themes and contains some adult language.)
Based on the memoir of the same title by Charles Blow, Fire Shut Up in My Bones is Blanchard’s second opera, with a libretto by Kasi Lemmons. Originally commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, co-commissioned by Jazz St. Louis, it was premiered in the summer of 2019 by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
The opera tells the story of Charles, a young man growing up in the Deep South, and his life journey to overcome hardship and emotional trauma. Ultimately he must decide to let go of his suffering and rebuild his life and sense of self-worth.
This new production is a collaboration between the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and LA Opera, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera.
The production’s staging is co-directed by James Robinson and Camille A. Brown. Brown is also the production’s choreographer, becoming the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production. The excellent cast includes Will Liverman as Charles, Angel Blue in a triple role (Destiny, Loneliness, and Greta), Latonia Moore as Billie (Charles’ mother), and Walter Russell III as the child Charles (Char’es-Baby). Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
The creative team also includes set designer Allen Moyer, costume designer Paul Tazewell, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind, and projection designer Greg Emetaz. ■
- Atlantic Station Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX & VIP
261 19th Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30363 - Silverspot Cinema @ The Battery Atlanta
960 Battery Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30339 - Hollywood 24 @ North I-85
3265 NE Expressway Access Rd, Atlanta, GA 30341 - Perimeter Pointe 10
1155 Mount Vernon Hwy, Atlanta, GA 30338 - Merchant’s Walk Stadium Cinemas 12
1301 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta, GA 30068 - Tinseltown USA Fayetteville
134 Pavalion Parkway, Fayetteville, GA 30214 - Barrett Commons 14 with IMAX
2600 Cobb Place Lane NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144 - McDonough Stadium 16
115 Foster Dr, Mcdonough, GA 30253 - Regal Arbor Place 18
6600 Douglas Blvd, Douglasville, GA 30135 - Sugarloaf Mills 18
5900 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30043 - Regal Mall Of Georgia 20 Plus Imax
3333 A Buford Drive, Buford, GA 30519
Worldwide: Search for a cinema near you at www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/theater-finder
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. he began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.
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