Terence Blanchard Makes History At The Metropolitan Opera

Fire Shut Up in My Bones, based on the Charles M. Blow memoir of the same title, is the first work by a Black composer to be staged by the Metropolitan Opera.

Transcript

NOEL KING, HOST:

All right. For the first time in its 138-year history, the Metropolitan Opera in New York will present an opera by a Black composer. The Met's been closed for the past 18 months because of the pandemic. It will open its new season with Terence Blanchard's "Fire Shut Up In My Bones." Here's Tom Vitale.

TOM VITALE, BYLINE: Terence Blanchard has played trumpet with jazz legends Lionel Hampton and Art Blakey. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards for his film scores. He's won five Grammys for his records. But at a recent rehearsal for "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" at the Metropolitan Opera, Blanchard was humbled by the scale of the production.

TERENCE BLANCHARD: I've never thought I would be in a situation like this to walk in the room, and there's, like, almost 40 singers singing something that I'd written. Then in the next room, there's 16 dancers choreographing to a piece of music that I've written. And then in the other room, there's the principal singers. They're blocking out - you know, it's like, (vocalizing "Twilight Zone" theme). (Laughter) I keep waiting to wake up.

VITALE: "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" is based on the memoir of the same title by Charles Blow. It's about a Black boy growing up in rural Louisiana, where he rises above poverty, violence and sexual abuse to become a successful writer.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, singing) What wrong with that boy? A stranger in his home town, an oddity, the butt of a joke.

VITALE: The show was first staged two years ago by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. For the Met production, new scenes were added along with a chorus and a troupe of dancers. Terence Blanchard says the opera, with its all-Black cast and mostly Black creative team, is about much more than his music.

BLANCHARD: It's an interesting thing because of what it means to society. It's not just about me being the composer. These people understand that this production is going to make a statement about our community and how our community has been overlooked in the operatic world. There's not a soul in this production who doesn't get it.

WILL LIVERMAN: It means everything. I mean, it's so, so special.

VITALE: Baritone Will Liverman stars in the role of Charles.

LIVERMAN: It's a collective thing, and we all want to do well and tell this story just to show, like, real, authentic Blackness onstage - Black pain, Black joy. You know, this piece has it all. It's such an honor and privilege to be able to sing this role.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES")

LIVERMAN: (As Charles, singing) I'll go north. I'll make my way. Nothing can stop me, no reason to stay. The South is no place for a boy with peculiar grace.

VITALE: Much of the libretto revolves around Charles' struggle to accept his bisexuality. He is haunted by his attraction to men. The second act opens with a ballet featuring a dozen ghostly male dancers pairing off in same-sex embraces. Choreographer Camille Brown co-directed the show. She is the first Black woman to direct an opera at the Met.

CAMILLE BROWN: I tried to think about, what was my entry point into the work? And I started thinking about a lot of the struggles some of my dearest friends who are Black gay males have gone through and what it was like for them to grow and find their sexuality and be comfortable in their sexuality.

(SOUNDBITE OF TERENCE BLANCHARD COMPOSITION)

VITALE: The real-life subject of "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" is Charles Blow, who now works as a staff writer and op-ed columnist for The New York Times. Speaking from his home in Atlanta, Blow says you have to look at the significance of the Met production in two ways.

CHARLES M BLOW: I think you have to really applaud Terence for being the first. And then you simultaneously have to say, why is that? Is there a dearth of talent, or is there a dearth of opportunity and acceptance?

VITALE: The new season at the Met includes works by Verdi, Mozart, Wagner, Stravinsky and Puccini. Terence Blanchard says how his work measures up is yet to be answered.

BLANCHARD: That's a funny question. It's funny listening to you name all those names - Verdi and all those guys. And then you say Blanchard. I go, wait a minute. Who's that? Who's that dude? (Laughter) I really don't know because I feel like Charles. My story's still untold yet. I'm just enjoying this moment for what it's bringing to my life because I never saw this coming. Never - never in a million years could I see this coming.

(SOUNDBITE OF TERENCE BLANCHARD COMPOSITION)

VITALE: Blanchard says he's not concerned with why it took so long for the Metropolitan Opera to present the work of a Black composer. He says the key question is, what happens next?

For NPR News, I'm Tom Vitale in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF TERENCE BLANCHARD COMPOSITION) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.