Sunday, June 19, 2022 at 2 p.m. on KPBS 2 / Not available on demand
Grammy-winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s memoir marks the Met's first performance of an opera by a Black composer and first production in its theater following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Featuring a libretto by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, the opera tells the story of a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma and hardship.
James Robinson and Camille A. Brown co-direct this new staging, with Brown also choreographing, becoming the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production. Baritone Will Liverman stars as Charles alongside soprano Angel Blue as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta, soprano Latonia Moore as Billie, and Walter Russell III as Char’es-Baby.
Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald hosts GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET "Fire Shut Up in My Bones," premiering Friday, April 1 on PBS as part of #PBSForTheArts. The broadcast is part of season 16 of GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET that makes its return with 10 new operas premiering monthly February-November 2022 on PBS.
#PBSForTheArts is a multiplatform campaign that celebrates the arts in America. For more than 50 years, PBS has been the media destination for the arts, presenting dance, theater, opera, visual arts and concerts to Americans in every corner of the country. Previous GREAT PERFORMANCES programs include "Romeo & Juliet" from the National Theatre, "The Arts Interrupted," "Coppelia," and "Reopening: The Broadway Revival."
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This program is no longer available on demand
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Credits:
GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET is produced by the Metropolitan Opera in association with PBS and The WNET Group, bringing the best of the Metropolitan Opera into the homes of opera fans across the country. Directed for the screen by Gary Halvorson. For the Met: Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park are supervising producers and Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik are producers. Peter Gelb is executive producer. For GREAT PERFORMANCES: Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.
