Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Date/Time
Location
Clark Art Institute (225 South Street, Williamstown, MA 01267)
Grammy Award–winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard presents Fire Shut Up in My Bones, his adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s moving memoir — the first opera by a Black composer presented on the Metropolitan Opera stage. The Clark will show the opera live in HD, conducted by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
With a libretto by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, the opera tells a poignant and profound story about a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma and hardship. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown, two of the creators of the recent production of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, co-direct this new staging.
Blow is a natinally acclaimed New York Times Opinion columnist, writing about politics, public opinion and social justice. In his memoir, he writes about his journey to find his voice as a journalist, resisting the standards of race and masculinity he faces while growing up in small-town rural Louisiana.
Baritone Will Liverman, one of opera’s most exciting young artists, stars as Charles, alongside sopranos Angel Blue as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta and Latonia Moore as Billie. Please note that this screening is being shown on a delayed basis, recorded from the live transmission. Content advisory: Fire Shut Up in My Bones addresses adult themes and contains some adult language.
The Met: Live in HD is the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts. Simulcasts feature the full performance along with backstage interviews and commentary.