Praise for Porgy and Bess

Seattle Opera's Porgy and Bess. Philip Newton photo

"Filled with artistic achievement and complex, engaging cultural relevance, Porgy and Bess is one of the best Seattle Opera productions ever." - Seattle Weekly 

"I can pretty much guarantee that you'll never have the opportunity to attend a better production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess than the one now playing at Seattle Opera." - Seattle Gay News 

Elizabeth Llewellyn, Bess. Philip Newton photo

"What a cast! Anyone who harbors doubts that we have a plentitude of African-American opera singers with the pipes and artistry to triumph in leading roles in the world’s great houses would have had their belief challenged by the stunning line-up for Seattle Opera’s opening night production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess." - Bachtrack 

Seattle Opera presents Porgy and Bess. Philip Newton photo

"...anyone self-debating whether to let go of The Cosby Show or Annie Hall can attend this P&B and hear the singers make it, grippingly and magnificently, their own. This production becomes so much more their characters’ story than Gershwin and Heyward’s." - Seattle Weekly 

Edward Graves (Robbins) and Lester Lynch (Crown). Philip Newton photo

"As it did a year ago for Madama Butterfly, Seattle Opera has confronted the problems with Porgy head-on, as an opportunity for audience education. The lobby at McCaw Hall contains a fine display of instructive material, and the Seattle Opera Blog is full of thoughtful, interesting pieces about the history of Porgy and great interviews with African American cast members and other artists and activists (seattleoperablog.com/p/black-voices-in-response-to-porgy-and.html)." - Seattle Gay News 

Alfred Walker (Porgy) and Angel Blue (Bess). Philip Newton photo

"It’s largely due to this stellar cast, and the show’s direction (by Garnett Bruce in a production originally staged by Francesca Zambello), that this “Porgy and Bess” — a co-production with Glimmerglass Festival — rises above the stereotypes." - The Seattle Times 

".. an enthralling evening, one where you can’t take your eyes or ears off the stage, no matter how well you may know its wonderful songs like “Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “My Man’s Gone Now,” “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” and so many more. It’s a lively, well-knit, colorful and moving story and production, well worth seeing." - City Arts

Jermaine Smith (Sportin' Life), with members of the Porgy and Bess cast. Philip Newton photo

"Jermaine Smith is an instant hit when he comes onto the scene, lighting up the stage and enlivening the scene as the dynamic Sportin’ Life ... Smith has played the role in 15 different productions around the world, and it shows. He knows the music forward and backward and carefully crafts his movements to every staccato and every slithering rhythm, making for a Sportin’ Life you can’t look away from." - The Seattle Times 

"And the chorus and several minor characters such Strawberry Woman (Ibidunni Ojikutu), Crab Man (tenor Ashley Faatoalia), Maria (contralto Judith Skinner) and soprano Brandie Sutton as Clara (who opened the opera with the heartrending “Summertime”) were top-drawer and on their games."  - Oregon Arts Watch

"Not only did Seattle Opera debutante Brandie Sutton cap Clara’s gorgeous 'Summertime' at the opera’s start with a perfectly floated high B, but she artfully darkened her delivery and reined in her vibrato during the aria’s tragic reprise." - Bachtrack 

Derrick Parker (Jake). Philip Newton photo

"Derrick Parker as a charismatic Jake destined to break our hearts and Bernard Holcomb as an adorably quirky Mingo help flesh out the Catfish Row community." - The Seattle Times 

"Lester Lynch was an ideal Crown who mated sneering aggression and naked violence with vibrant voice." - Bachtrack 

Mary Elizabeth Williams (Serena). Philip Newton photo

"Much credit for this phenomenon goes to cast members Mary Elizabeth Williams and Judith Skinner, who are aflame as Serena and Maria, the powerful moral consciences of Catfish Row, the South Carolina coastal hamlet where the opera is set." - Seattle Weekly 

"Also adding immensely to the strong feel of community in this production is the chorus, with many of its members from the greater Seattle area, in addition to elsewhere. Rather than the noisy, reactionary bundle of bodies that the chorus has often been reduced to, the chorus here — used to its fullest potential, allowing it to be more than a backdrop — creates a real sense of community." - The Seattle Times 

"One of the wonders of this opera is that although the cast is large, Porgy and Bess is a true ensemble work, in which many members of the chorus have solo moments when they become important characters and then step back into the community at large. In this production, there isn't a weak link. Every singer is worthy of the solos, and the chorus as a whole has a glorious sound. Among the standouts are Judith Skinner as the feisty shopkeeper Maria, Ibidunni Ojikutu as Strawberry Woman, Ashley Faataolia as Crab Man, and Martin Bakari as Peter/Honey Man." - Seattle Gay News 

Seattle Opera presents Porgy and Bess. Philip Newton photo

"[Alfred Walker as Porgy] is calm and unmovable, strong and stable. Walker’s smooth bass-baritone solidifies this stolid Porgy, and it is a joy when he occasionally defies some of the jazzier tones of the music, making a song about gambling (“Roll dem bones”) sound more like a moving spiritual." - The Seattle Times 

“The program at [Phantom of the Opera at Paramount theater] lists the cast, their resumes. Porgy and Bess also has a program, but since Seattle Opera has been on a mission, lately, toward cultural equity and awareness, this program is full of essays, about cast member Mary Elizabeth Williams (who plays Serena, stunningly), about black artists and activists and their complicated and various relationships with the opera, and about 'Breaking Glass'—the public forum that Seattle Opera held before the show. Interacting with nearly any art form entails a weird sort of matrix of intention. You’re constantly trying to parse what’s ironic, say, from what’s earnest, what the artist meant from what a character says. You can do this through context, through history. But theater adds extra layers: There’s the text and music (of one time and place, usually) and then there’s the new staging of it (now), and there’s the way those interact. Theater is unavoidably about the present. And lately Seattle Opera has decided to make that explicit.” - Seattle Met 

Elizabeth Llewellyn (Bess) and Kevin Short (Porgy). Philip Newton photo 

"In the title roles of Porgy and Bess, bass-baritones Alfred Walker and Kevin Short and sopranos Angel Blue and Elizabeth Llewellyn are all superb, singing beautifully and bringing complexity and nuance to the stereotypes of the noble disabled man and the drug-addled loose woman. In my opinion, it really doesn't matter which pairing is featured in the performance you attend, because all four of these singers are so strong and because no other roles are double-cast."  - Seattle Gay News 

"...perhaps most disturbingly, the amoral dope peddler Sportin’ Life is a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Jermaine Smith’s serpentine performance gives the show a shot of straight-up musical-comedy pizzazz." - Seattle Weekly 

Angel Blue (Bess) and Jermaine Smith (Sportin' Life). 

"Blue as Bess has a liquid sunshine voice with a warm, controlled timbre. Though she disputes the parallel, Blue has been compared to the mid-century African-American diva Leontyne Price for her charisma, beauty and vibrant voice. You might have heard Blue in Portland Opera’s recent Faust as Marguerite or as Violetta in SO’s 2017 La Traviata. Like her co-star Walker, both to appear at the Metropolitan Opera in the 2018-19 season (she as Musetta in La Boheme, he as the Speaker in The Magic Flute), Blue is a singer on the rise." - Oregon Arts Watch

"The show’s conductor, John DeMain, also led the 1976 Houston Grand Opera staging that brought P&B fully back into the public eye after decades of nips, tucks and neglect, and consequently knows the piece better than anyone alive. His triumph is to make unforgettable Gershwin’s moments of musical genius." - Seattle Weekly 

"This [Porgy and Bess] is a more important event in Seattle musical life (barring maybe a few world premieres and, OK, its Ring) than anything else SO has offered." - Seattle Weekly 

Seattle Opera's Porgy and Bess. Philip Newton photo

Telling Bess’s story

Seattle Opera's two Bess singers: American soprano Angel Blue, left, and British soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn, right 

By Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor 

Without conflict, there would be no opera. This is an art form that often relies on the anguish of its characters (among other emotions, like love) in order to tell a juicy tale, whether it’s Porgy and Bess, La bohème, or Madame Butterfly. The difference with Porgy, however, is that, unlike stories depicting 1830s Paris or Japan at the turn of the 20th century, the conflict we see in Catfish Row, including the abusive relationship with Crown and Bess, hits a little closer to home with American audiences in 2018. Considering the real-world themes of domestic violence, addiction, and more, Seattle Opera reached out to our two Bess’s: Angel Blue and Elizabeth Llewellyn to understand more about what it’s like to tell this powerful and affecting narrative.

Angel Blue (Bess) and Alfred Walker (Porgy). Philip Newton photo

Tell me about your character, Bess:
“In the novel, Porgy by DuBose Heyward, Bess knows that she’s deeply flawed and makes some bad decisions. But she has extraordinary self-awareness. From her interactions with Sportin' Life, we can work out that she had previously worked as a prostitute, and it would be convenient to stereotype her as a slut, but I don't see her that way. She simply gets on better with men. She would rather hang out with the crap players than with the ladies. She also has a powerful, almost magnetic personality. In the novel, she is described as someone who could simply give someone a look and they wouldn’t dare mess with her. I would like to bring some of these elements in to the way I play Bess.”
– Elizabeth Llewellyn

Elizabeth Llewellyn as Bess. Philip Newton photo

“Because I’ve historically sung Clara, I have not cared for Bess. But now, through portraying Bess, I see that she is truly not a bad person. She’s actually incredibly caring. Bess uses her assets to get by. She’s beautiful, outgoing; but she’s also incredibly insecure. Porgy and Bess is set in the segregated South, and there are many themes tied in to this: abusive relationships, gambling, judging others (as seen through Serena), religiosity in the Black community. All of this goes into who Bess is. And when we were staging this show, we had many discussions about how to make these characters real and relatable. I am doing my best to provide an honest telling of Bess’s story. I hope the character of Bess provides more awareness and encourages us all to take action if we see or experience abuse in real life.” - Angel Blue

[ For a list of hotlines, resources, and more, please visit the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence here.]

Elizabeth Llewellyn (Bess) and Kevin Short (Porgy). Philip Newton photo

Bess’s struggles with addiction and abuse are important elements in the journey of her character. Tell me more. 

“Bess is a victim in that she is bound to Crown emotionally. They are a team; she’s relied on him, they have relied on each other, and at this point, she has no other source of income, (although she’s been the one managing the money). She wants to get clean and start a new life. But we know from real victims of abuse that leaving is often not so easy; feelings of guilt can come into play, and believing that they don't deserve any better. She tells Porgy, ‘I know Crown’s going to come back for me. And I know I’m going to have to go.’” - Elizabeth Llewellyn 

Angel Blue (Bess) and Alfred Walker (Porgy). Phlip Newton photo

“Bess is addicted to drugs, and to Crown. However, many people have addictions, whether it’s to alcohol, drugs, food, or even social media. Bess is a real person, and the struggles she has, to a certain extent, are things many of us go through. In fact, I had a friend in college who struggled with alcoholism, and unfortunately, he ended up being asked to leave. I have seen firsthand how addictions can impact people. It’s humbling. When I portray Bess, I respect what she is going through. I do not judge her. Everyone has the ability to fall into some kind of trap or downward spiral.” 
- Angel Blue

Do you approach Bess any differently than your other roles?

“I approach Bess in the same way that I approach my other roles such as Cio-Cio-San, Tosca, Elsa, etc. For me, there’s a danger of this piece being presented as something with a lot of luggage rather than what it actually is, a story about humans. Madame Butterfly is about a 15-year-old who has to grow up very quickly. Tosca is about two young lovers who try for a weekend getaway and it all goes wrong. One is based in Japan at a particular time in its history, the other in Rome at a time when someone like the chief of police would have wielded a lot of power. But these are all human stories. It’s the same with Porgy and Bess. This is not simply a Black story, or an American story—it’s a human story. Of course, this story (like the other two) has a cultural and historical context. The early-20th-century setting in America is central to the understanding of the U.S. historic and current racial difficulties. I don’t want to disregard those themes of the Black American struggle for justice. But I think for any opera to live, it has to be understood, not just by that country or that group, but by everyone. Personally, I would have been interested to see the version of Porgy and Bess in Budapest [Staged by The Hungarian State Opera, this production featured a predominantly white cast]. Whilst there would have obviously been some key differences, the human story being told would probably have had quite a few similarities to the Porgy and Bess we know.” - Elizabeth Llewellyn

Elizabeth Llewellyn (Cio-Cio-San) and David Danholt (Pinkerton) in the Royal Danish Opera production of Madame Butterfly. 

At the end of Act I, Crown comes for Bess, and there’s quite a physical struggle between the two of them. Crown sexually assaults Bess by caressing her in ways that she clearly does not want. At the end of the scene, Bess pulls Crown toward her with his belt and kisses him. How did you create this scene with Stage Director Garnett Bruce and baritone Lester Lynch (Crown)?
“The physical challenge of a scene like this is that we’ve still got to be able to sing! There were quite a lot of discussions on how to make sure everyone was comfortable with where we had to go with this scene emotionally and physically to make it believable; and we left it deliberately vague as to how much of this was consent/participation and how much is abuse/coercion. Lester Lynch is a gentleman and a really lovely colleague. As performers, it takes a lot of trust to be able to let someone invade your personal space while acting in a scene like that.” - Elizabeth Llewellyn

A candid photo from Angel Blue's Instagram! Angel says: "This is my first time singing Bess and it is a fantastic role to sing! @seattleopera holds a special place in my heart, and these 3 wonderful men are making my job so much easier by working with me to create an unforgettable character in Bess. What an honor! From left to right they are Choreographer Eric Sean Fogel, Director Garnett Bruce and Maestro John DeMain." 

While holding space for victims of abuse who may not want to see a scene like this, can our discomfort ever be a good thing?
“Yes. Because our discomfort can stretch us. It can helpfully make us stronger. My reality in the Crown/Bess duet is that Lester is not actually being forceful with me. We’re singing together. But what Bess is experiencing is a reality for some people. We should have an awareness of that.”
- Angel Blue

What do you hope people get out of this story of Bess, Porgy, and the people of Catfish Row?
“This piece is about people making the best of their life. I think that’s one of the biggest messages. Look at our set: You see poverty. You see holes in the wall. However, you also see happiness. You see hardworking people. Porgy has a hard life, but he continues to strive to be positive. When the hurricane happens, people still welcome Crown, the villain, in to shelter. To me, Gershwin's work shows humanity at its best. The message is that there’s always hope.” - Angel Blue

Seattle Opera presents Porgy and Bess. Jacob Lucas photo

Seattle Opera's Porgy and Bess plays now through Aug. 25, 2018. 

Tickets and info: seattleopera.org/porgy

#SOPorgy

Podcast: JOHN DEMAIN Introduces PORGY AND BESS

Maestro John DeMain made his Seattle Opera debut in 1987, conducting The Gershwins' (R) Porgy and Bess (R) the first time the complete opera was given in Seattle. Between his day job as Music Director of the Madison Symphony, in Wisconsin's capitol, and conducting engagements elsewhere, DeMain has returned to conduct in Seattle several times, including every Seattle Opera performance to date (including the upcoming ones!) of Porgy and Bess.
In this podcast, which includes musical illustrations from Seattle Opera's 2011 performances, DeMain discusses the work often called "the greatest American opera" with Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean and even tells the story of how America's opera companies retrieved Porgy and Bess, which had been simplified to make an easier-to-produce musical, starting with the bicentennial celebrations at Houston Grand Opera in 1976.

Porgy and Bess Meets Kids and Race

By Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor

Prior to this August’s Porgy and Bess, Seattle Opera is excited to be collaborating with an organization that joyfully empowers parents and kids to talk about race. Jasen Frelot, Executive Director of Kids and Race, sat down with Courtney D. Clark, Seattle Opera School Programs Manager, music teacher, and singer (who’s performed the role of Bess).

Moving into the future, Seattle Opera hopes to use each opera it mounts as a vehicle for discussion about issues of our time, particularly, surrounding identity, race, gender, class, and more. This August, we’re engaging with a variety of voices from the Black community, as we attempt to spur larger conversations about how Porgy and Bess resonates in the 21st century.

Courtney and Jasen, both artists and educators, discuss Porgy and Bess within the context of Seattle’s largely white progressivism. Is it necessary to prepare your kids to see work that might be considered dated or offensive to some? What’s the impact of experiencing an opera where only the Black performers have a voice? Dive into the conversation to learn more below.

[This interview has been condensed for clarity. You can listen to the full, half-hour podcast here]

INTRO:

JASEN FRELOT, host:

What up, freedom fighters? This is your friend Jasen Frelot of KidsandRace.org. I am so excited to have, probably, our biggest guest ever, Miss Courtney Clark.

We’re here talking about Seattle Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess. And this is not the Los Angeles production of Porgy and Bess, this is not the Atlanta production of Porgy and Bess, this is not the Chicago production of Porgy and Bess, this is the Seattle production of Porgy and Bess.

COURTNEY: At the best level, in my opinion, that it’s ever been produced.

JASEN: Really?

COURTNEY: In my opinion.

JASEN: Tell me about this!

PORGY REHEARSALS: Angel Blue (Bess) and Alfred Walker (Porgy). Philip Newton photo

COURTNEY: This Porgy and Bess is being treated like any other opera. We auditioned each cast member, just as we would audition each cast member for La Boheme or Il Trovatore. We did not bring in a traveling company. We gave it the same attention that we give any other opera.

JASEN: So, was this with all local artists?

COURTNEY: No, we’ve got some artists who are at the top of their game right now (from all over the U.S. and internationally as well), and that is unheard of.

JASEN: Drop some names, drop some names.

COURTNEY: We have Angel Blue, for one. Derek Parker. Jermaine Smith, Kevin Short. Lester Lynch. These are some really big names in opera. Not big names of African Americans in opera, but in opera period. This, in my opinion, is the level that Porgy and Bess should always be performed.

JASEN: And I’m assuming that it’s not.

COURTNEY: No, because a lot of opera companies—it’s sad—but from my experience, in the South, they are, generally, drowning in whiteness. It seems like there’s perception that there are no, I guess, qualified People of Color in the community, or they don’t want to take it on—or they don’t think people will want to buy tickets to see it. You have to spend money to get the quality. You have to pay these wonderful people, who are at the top of their game, who are gracing the Metropolitan Opera’s stage, in order to get a quality work.

SINGERS AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME: Brandie Inez Sutton (Clara in Seattle Opera's Porgy and Bess) was praised by The New York Times for her role as Cio-Cio-San when she performed with the Martina Arroyo Foundation training program. Sutton announced on her website recently that she will soon be joining The Metropolitan Opera artist roster.

JASEN: Yes.

COURTNEY: So, they are passing on a cheaper way of presenting the production, in my opinion.

JASEN: So they’re not diving fully into the process. They’re trying to have their cake and eat it too?

COURTNEY: Pretty much.

JASEN: You see this a lot. And I commend Seattle Opera for not doing this, but you see this a lot with white people who are trying to have a diversity initiative, quote unquote. They do it half way, and then blame the Black people when it doesn't work.

COURTNEY: Or when it’s murky and it’s not right and you’re a singer in graduate school who can’t take it; you get up and leave because you know it’s not on the level that it should be on.

SEATTLE - A 'RACIALLY ENLIGHTENED CITY'?  A picture of a Seattle public school classroom in 1994. "Few Seattleites seem to be aware of the large role our city has played in re-segregating America’s schools. In 2007, courtesy of a suit brought by a group of predominantly white Seattle parents (Parents Involved In Community Schools v. Seattle School District), the Supreme Court dealt a huge blow to education equity when it declared U.S. schools could not seek to achieve/maintain integration by taking account of student race. - Sharon Chang, Time to shed the ‘progressive mystique’ and confront racism in Seattle; Seattle Globalist. Read more HERE .

JASEN: And amen to that, amen to that. I mean it’s—you know what, that reminds me. I’m going to tell a story. It’s a little bit off subject but I think that it will fit. At my first ever anti-racism workshop (that I attended), I threw a chair and walked out. I was so disgusted by how I was minimized there. How I was told about what my experiences are from, you know I don’t even think that the person, the main presenter was a Black person at all, I think it was a white woman. I was so upset that I threw my chair and walked out. I think that experience is part of why I started Kids and Race and why I made Kids and Race the way that it is. And why it’s so important that Black voices are telling their own stories. And allowing those stories to be complex and complicated.

COURTNEY: Absolutely. Because that is us as a people.

JASEN: We are a complex and complicated people.

COURTNEY: We just are. We just are.

JASEN: And we all have dealt with this oppression in a different way.

COURTNEY: Mhmm. We have.

AN OPERA FEATURING ONLY BLACK VOICES

JASEN: Gabrielle is here with us today, she is also with Seattle Opera, just she’s off mic, but Gabrielle and I were talking a little bit earlier about how different Black people have different experiences and different takes on how Porgy and Bess should be represented. So I want to honor those takes now.

Cast members of Seattle Opera's Porgy and Bess in rehearsal. Philip Newton photo

COURTNEY: Okay.

JASEN: And speak into it. People say that Porgy and Bess is problematic. That there’s minstrelsy in it. That it’s racist in a lot of ways. The way that the language is used, the vernacular, that that is a racist vernacular. That people should not be listening to it anymore, I would guess. I don’t know. What do you say to that?

COURTNEY: Oh, please. You know, first of all, what I think is profound that a lot of people recognize about the work, Gershwin incorporated several white characters in the opera. And, they are there to be as racist … But one thing I love about what Gershwin did is that none of (the white characters) were given singing parts.

JASEN: Wow.

COURTNEY: None of them were given a voice. And I think sometimes we need to look, we need to infer a little bit, on why they weren’t given a strong vocal line. Why weren’t they given a lament? Or a song that showcased a power? And so, I disagree. I think at one point, Porgy and Bess, throughout the years, had to have progressive Blacks. It had nuances of what minstrels made them feel like. It reminded—

JASEN: Yes, sort of reminded them of the past.

COURTNEY: And it kind of got to the point where they didn’t want to have anything to do with it. They didn’t want to see it. It’s like Gone With the Wind, you know. No one wants to see it, but when they finally see it, they realize this is who—I mean I can pick out about five people in my family to put up on that stage to represent half of those characters.

JASEN: And this is what really gets my goat about calling a depiction of 1935 culture a stereotype of minstrelsy is that it spits in the face of the people whose story this is representing … it spits in the face of the people who have worked their entire lives to be up on that stage.

COURTNEY: You’re right.

JASEN: And to say that those people are being minstrels, or stereotyping is a complete disservice to their agency.

COURTNEY: It is.

HATTIE MCDANIEL IN GONE WITH THE WIND: "To achieve stardom in this era, black actors such as Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy in 'Gone with the Wind,' had to feign intellectual dullness, hiding their true intelligence and feelings from whites. The Jim Crow-rooted struggles that accomplished black artists, athletes and intellectuals confronted gradually diminished over the next half-century, as the civil rights movement pushed the federal government to remove the legal barriers that had made African Americans second-class citizens." - Fred L. Johnson III, Why black culture thrives alongside rampant racism; Washington Post. Read more HERE.   

JASEN: Yes, let’s say this first: intellectually, I don’t agree. Emotionally and spiritually, it infuriates me.

So, the Internet—I implore you, I implore you, if you don’t love Porgy and Bess, if you don’t have a true and deep love of the work, and a respect for the artists depicting that work, then just don’t write about it.

COURTNEY: Right.

JASEN: —coming from a place of love, you know, by all means state that critique. But if this is coming from a place of wanting to get attention for finding something wrong with Seattle Opera, then I would bite your tongue, I would bite your tongue. Because it seems like this Black woman, that is sitting in front of me today, is very proud of that work.

COURTNEY: I’m so proud of it. And also, I’m right out of the classroom and if I could just see my students, I could see introducing this work to my fourth and fifth graders. And letting them know that you’re going to experience bullying, you’re going to see addiction first hand, you’re going to see the way relationships shouldn’t always go. You’re going to see people make decisions, but mostly, one thing that is beautiful about Porgy and Bess, it showed how the people in South Carolina, how they had to live. Black people in general. Yes, we focus on the Gullah, but Black people as a whole, that is the way they lived: in those shanties, in those holes. It showed how they made a living by selling strawberries and crabs and begging on the street. But at the end of the day, even though it looked like a hole in the wall, they had community.

KIDS AND PORGY

JASEN: Let’s talk about children. So, I think it’s clear from our conversation so far, that both of us would be proud to show children Porgy and Bess. I’ve got two children, a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. I would be proud—well, maybe not when they’re this young, but when they’re 8, 9, 10 years old, I would expose my child to Porgy and Bess. I would allow my kid to see it and experience it without a lot of commentary from me. For white parents bringing their children to this opera, what would you recommend, if anything?

A photo from a Kids and Race workshop. 

COURTNEY: As a parent for either race, but for white parents, I would specifically—believe it or not, the children are more advanced than the parents are today … They know what’s going on. You may not believe it, but they know what’s going on. And all they need is a safe place and they will show you what they know. That’s coming from the music teacher. But what I would share, and suggest, is to not so much focus on the good, the bad, the ugly, but encourage your children to be critical thinkers.

JASEN: Yes.

COURTNEY: To have an open mind.

JASEN: Yes.

COURTNEY: Give them an opportunity to feel comfortable about approaching them on subjects or things that they see. But mostly, guide them so that they know that even though this was written in 1935, that some of these social issues onstage are ones we’re still dealing with.

(You can say):

“Talk to me about where you may have seen bullying.”

“Talk to me, son/daughter, where you may have thought you were a little intimidated by seeing those police officers walking in.”

Give your child the tools to be able to cope. And then be able to take that experience onstage and ask questions about it. What does drug addiction look like in my family, my community? We’ve got crack on the streets. We’ve got cocaine in our white community.

IMAGES OF NW AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: A photo from the exhibit,  "Posing Beauty" by Lauren Kelley; a young attendee at the NWAM Jazz Brunch, and a photo of the museum gift shop which includes children's books such as "Happy in our Skin," "Crafting with Feminism," "A is for Activist" and "Black Heroes of the Wild West." Jasen Frelot, Executive Director of Kids and Race, says nurturing a child's sense of racial justice doesn't stem from "preparing" them to see Porgy and Bess. He suggests instead that parents are conscious of the various arts and cultural institutions that their children get to engage with for a range of Black, Brown and immigrant-community perspectives. 

JASEN: So, let me repeat back to you what I’m hearing. Having a conversation with your kids about all the racism that they are going to, quote unquote racism, they are going to see during Porgy and Bess, that doesn’t help the kid.

COURTNEY: No it doesn’t help. You’re pushing it on them.

JASEN: The best thing that you can do is to allow your kid to experience it. Talk to them about what they saw in the piece.

COURTNEY: Let them talk to you.

JASEN: Oh gosh. Almighty yes, do we need to let our kids talk to us.

COURTNEY: Give them the courage to speak up.

JASEN: Yes.

COURTNEY: Give them a platform to debate and feel comfortable with their parents.

JASEN: Yes, yes. And don’t shut them down if you hear them saying—

COURTNEY: Something you don’t like.

JASEN: The quote, unquote wrong thing by our, you know, white progressive Seattle standards. Like, we can listen to our kids and listen to the brilliance that is going to come spilling out of their mouths. There’s a lot—

'I LOVE PORGY. BUT I ALSO WANT MORE BLACK OPERAS.'  The conversation about Black narratives and Porgy and Bess continued on July 28 with Breaking Glass: Hyperlinking Opera & Issues. A key takeaway from this forum was that every time the opera world presents one production of Porgy and Bess, the industry should mount at least two productions created by a Black composer or librettist. Panelist Naomi André, author of Black Opera: History, Power and Engagement shared both her love of Porgy, as well as her desire to see opera companies mount X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Margret Garner, Charlie Parker's Yardbird, and many other Black operas. Ariana Buck photo

COURTNEY: The children are our future.

JASEN: This was so much fun. So much fun. Now Courtney, at the end of every podcast we end it with a synchronized “fight the power,” okay? So ready?

COURTNEY: Oh!

JASEN: One, two, three.

COURTNEY: Fight the power that be!

JASEN: Fight the power!

Learn more about Kids and Race at kidsandrace.org. 

Black inclusion at Seattle Opera

By Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor

This spring, Seattle Opera is excited to be working with Social Impact Consultant ChrisTiana ObeySumner as we continue our racial equity work. ChrisTiana will help Seattle Opera forge a dialogue with members of Seattle’s Black and PoC communities leading up to our Aida and Porgy and Bess productions. 

Ultimately, they (ChrisTiana uses they/theirs pronouns) will help Seattle Opera envision a future for opera that truly includes and honors people of color—a process that made meaningful strides this past summer with members of the Asian Pacific Islander community during Madame Butterfly.

ChrisTiana has a BS in Psychology, a Master in Nonprofit Leadership, and is currently pursuing a Master in Public Administration at Seattle University. Their area of expertise and research is the relationship between marginalized and oppressed intersectionalities and access to basic human needs and rights in American society. ChrisTiana is the General Co-Chair and Housing Committee Chair of the Seattle Commission of People with disAbilities. They are also the founding Executive Director of the Eleanor Elizabeth Institute for Black Empowerment. 

You have been coming to Seattle Opera for several years now. What was your introduction to the art form?

My introduction to the art form was watching a blue alien sing opera in The Fifth Element. I was 8 years old, and I felt like I could see myself in this character. Her hair reminded me of dreadlocks, and as a Caribbean Black and AfroLatinx, I identified with that. I identified with her blue skin even because it wasn’t white. I saw that you don’t have to be White to be a diva and sing this amazing aria.

A still from the movie, The Fifth Element.

Envision a beautiful future for opera in Seattle. What do you see?

I would love for McCaw Hall to become a space where an 8-year-old girl of color can think, “I can be up there. That’s something I can do.” Operas like Porgy and Bess and Aida are important opportunities for representation that Seattle Opera should take advantage of.

I would like to see Seattle Opera make a more explicit invitation to PoC communities, and more implicitly make the opera a place where everyone feels welcome. Sometimes when people don’t see themselves in a space, they worry: “Am I going to be the only Black person there?” “Will people stare at me?” “Am I going to feel comfortable?” Or, for my friends who have disabilities—“Will there be a space for my wheelchair?” “Will I be able to make it back from intermission in time?” “Will there be strobe lights that will affect my epilepsy?” What I’ve been brought in to do—and , and what I’m honored to do—is to help identify and break down some of these barriers, both real and perceived.

Among other artists of color, Black tenor Vinson Cole (pictured with Sheri Greenawald) is celebrated as one of Seattle Opera's legendary performers. In its 55-year-history, Seattle Opera has made conscious efforts to hire Black singers through colorblind casting under the direction of Glynn Ross and Speight Jenkins. At the time, these were audacious and important stepping-stones for racial equity. Now in 2018, the conversation on racial equity has moved forward. In 2018, we see that classical European art forms such as opera and ballet are still overwhelmingly white, from the decision-makers at these organizations, to the artists and audience members. While colorblind casting was helpful in some ways for minority representation, it is no longer the way forward. In order for opera to speak to the people of Puget Sound, Seattle Opera will make conscious efforts to hire storytellers and artists who represent our region's diversity moving forward. As part of our racial-equity work, we have learned that we cannot be "blind" to color; we must recognize and acknowledge the lived histories of  marginalized people. This includes making amends with those we have hurt through practices such as blackface (also yellowface and brownface) and  cultural appropriation. Photo by Ron Scherl 

ChrisTiana attends Seattle Opera with friend, John. Philip Newton photo

What made you want to work with Seattle Opera?
I love opera. Opera, like all art, is a way to get a temperature, a pulse at the time—how people thought and understood other folks in terms of race, ability or gender. There is a beauty in being able to see where we came from, like “Oh wow, this is how they thought about women back then?” But it’s important to remember we’re in a new place now. Looking at opera with a twenty-first-century consciousness, we have a lot of updating to do. That updating could include owning some of opera’s problematic history, discussing it with a critical lens. It could include moving toward more color-conscious casting. It could include increasing diversity both onstage and behind the scenes. Maybe a director takes an opera like La bohème and places it in Harlem, for example. What we can’t do, however, is to move forward with this historic art form without any discussion or consideration for the world we live in today.

Of course, not all operas performed today are stories of the past. Seattle Opera's As One depicts a single, transgender woman protagonist, as told through two singers at Washington Hall. While singers Taylor Raven and Jorell Williams are cisgender, librettist Kimberly Reed, a trans woman, provided both words and inspiration for the story. Rozarii Lynch photo

Obviously, you cannot speak for all Black people. But what, in your own experience, is a barrier for Black folks coming to the opera?

Well, first of all, Jim Crow laws meant that Black performers and audience members would either be excluded altogether, or would often not be presented with the same opportunities. But, in terms of people today, from my experience, it’s the unspoken feeling of unwelcome. It can feel like people are saying, “Are you really supposed to be here?” There’s so much historic trauma and even contemporary trauma of feeling and being unwanted in these sorts of spaces.

For example, I don’t go to monster truck rallies because I don’t feel safe (though, I love monster trucks!). I love rock music, but I was attacked at a Fall Out Boy concert once. When I told people about it, they said, “What were you doing at a rock concert?” Opera has a lot of cultural environment work to do when people come in, meaning, the opera must show it is working on healing these wounds. There must be an explicit invitation to the community saying, “We own the fact that opera has historically not been welcoming to you, and we’re trying to change that.”

An example of Jim Crow laws in arts/entertainment. Getty Images

Opera has an inconsistent track record with minority representation onstage or behind-the-scenes. How does this contrast with what’s happening outside this art form?

Black people are having more opportunity for representation now than ever before. When I was growing up, I couldn’t wear box braids or wear my hair kinky without being sent home. Elders in my family would say, “This is why I told you to straighten your hair.” “This is why you need to code switch; to work on your diction.” They wanted me to assimilate, because they wanted me to be able to survive. We are currently in a time when I feel like I can be unabashedly Black. You see women like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B doing some great work as proud Afro-Latinas. In movies, we are starting to rise above the trope of showing Black people as enslaved or as poor Africans. Black people are everywhere; they can be themselves, and it’s beautiful. Of course, politically this is also one of the worst social climates for Black folks...

However, what makes me excited to be alive as a Black person right now is that I can be who I am with reckless abandon; without respectability politics. I feel like we’re in a time where I can say, this is who I am. This is the hair that grows out of my head. This is how my body has chosen to proportion itself. I’m not going to change for you. If you can’t accept me, you’re not ready for my beauty, my talents and my gifts. That’s your loss.

WOMEN OF WAKANDA | "Black Panther is groundbreaking in a multitude of ways. It’s a massive step forward for black representation in film, it’s changing what a superhero movie can accomplish, and it’s smashing through box office records like T’challa smashes through gangsters in a South Korean casino. In addition to these accomplishments, however, there’s also the salient fact that Black Panther successfully gives female characters depth and range on the same level of its male heroes and villains. Black Panther as a movie and as a character cannot exist without the women of Wakanda, and the overarching message is one that is rarely seen in the superhero genre (or in many movies in general): Women Get Sh*! Done, Discount Them At Your Own Risk." - Cosmopolitan [ Read more HERE ]

When a White European composer creates an opera with Black or Brown characters, what are some of the equity challenges?
With Aida for example, there’s still this culture of color-blindness to a certain extent. Colorblind casting was very progressive initially, but it’s not anymore. “I don’t see color, I don’t see race”—that was a great thing to say in the 80s. The truth is, we do see color, and we need to be able to see ourselves onstage. When opera presents stories set in “faraway places” from a European’s perspective, there is an opportunity to bring in singers of color to do those roles. This is so important for increasing diversity in the art form in general.

Aida is a story that Verdi very intentionally wrote about Egypt and Ethiopia. Imagine bringing an East African child to this performance and they see very few non-White performers. What message is being sent to this child?

For folks who really just want to unwind and relax, and enjoy the production — I empathize with you. But I also think it’s important to consider why Verdi wrote this work in the first place. Art is meant to challenge us and to reflect the political climate of the time; art is not necessarily synonymous with entertainment.

ACTORS WHO HAVE DEPICTED EGYPTIAN ROYALTY, ANCIENT EGYPT, OR MOSES | "Hollywood is a sucker for a story about ancient Egypt. Movies like The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra, and even The Mummy prove it. Upcoming movies like Exodus and Gods of Egypt all but confirm it. Unfortunately though, those films have something in common aside from being about ancient Egypt — they show that Hollywood, tends to envision ancient Egyptians and ancient Egyptian royalty as white men and women (sometimes with copious amounts of bronzer splashed on)." - Vox [ Read more HERE ]

What are some of the equity challenges with our upcoming operas?

Porgy and Bess is an interesting storyline. It brings up stereotypes of toxic masculinity in Black culture, as well as the sexualization of Black femme bodies—that we are these extremely lustful creatures. There’s also issues of ableism, domestic violence, colorism...

While acknowledging the ways in which Porgy perpetuates negative stereotypes, I have to ask: With so many People of Color onstage, is there an opportunity for this opera to make a positive impact?

Definitely. Porgy is going to be very powerful. There are going to be People of Color onstage! I hope people come and see it, and I hope they embrace the production. I think we can still enjoy works like Porgy; we just need to remember that this is a work about Black culture as seen through the lens of an affluent White man in the last century. 

Porgy and Bess, The Glimmerglass Festival, 2017. © Karli Cadel.

I hear you talk about the healing work that needs to happen between European art forms like opera and PoC communities. However, I know you also love opera. In your view, why is this art form worthwhile to the Black community?

To all PoC communities, I would say this is a time of decolonization; it’s a time of undoing some of the trauma that stems from White and European colonialists, and a time for healing, for reclaiming our own stories and history. Black folks have done a great job of decolonizing other spaces, be it rock music through Afropunk, or science fiction through the Afrofuturism genre. There are programs helping Black teens get into STEAM fields and Ivy League schools. We’re decolonizing the ballet with Misty Copeland, and the opera, with artists like RETNA — the graffiti artist who created the set design for Aida. We deserve a place here, too.

Graffiti artist, RETNA, makes his Seattle Opera debut as Artistic Designer for Aida.

RETNA's graffiti makes a dramatic impact in Seattle Opera's upcoming Aida. Photo by Cory Weaver

Why should people care about racial equity?

Opera is meant to be shared, explored, and performed by everyone. By including more folks in this art form, we are not excluding others. There is always space for equity, because there is always space for everyone. Both in art, and in a broader sense, society must de-center its Eurocentric point of view. Don’t forget that there are people alive right now who can still remember a segregated America. Of course we’re going to have growing pains. And of course, we’re not going to heal from centuries of enslavement, followed by racism and segregation in a mere lifetime. That doesn't make any sense.

[Editor’s note: In addition to RETNA, Aida’s Artistic Designer, other Black artists in the production include singers Gordon Hawkins and Alfred Walker. ] 

"I MATTER"| "In its essence, Black Lives Matter is a response to the persistent and historical trauma Black people have endured at the hands of the State. This trauma and pain, unresolved and unhealed lives on in our bodies, in our relationships and in what we create together. Since the inception of BLM, organizers and healers have taken this understanding of historical and generational trauma and made it the foundation of our healing circles, of creative and liberatory space held amidst actions, of our attempts to resolve conflict and division in ways that don’t replicate harm or rely on carceral ways of being with one another. It’s not an easy road; healing individual and community trauma while organizing to make real change in Black lives, but it’s what we know has to be done." - blacklivesmatter.com

You will be leading an event called "Cultured Conversations: Black Inclusion in Opera" on March 30. The event seeks insights and experiences from the Black community and will be a safe space to discuss representation in casting, attending the opera (or barriers to attending), and more. What do you hope to accomplish?
I come from a grassroots activist background, and that doesn't change just because I’m working with the opera. This focus group will be an opportunity for me to collect narratives and opinions from the community as I help Seattle Opera to make progress. How often does this happen that an organization like Seattle Opera hires a Black woman to help make a European artform a place where People of Color are celebrated? The fact that many people at the opera identify as a White allies (or, non-Black allies), shows a huge amount of progress. It makes me realize that the community input from Madame Butterfly didn’t fall on deaf ears. Now, I see the opera saying, “OK, how do we make this right? How do we make this a more inclusive space?” That growth is something to praise. There is a lot of fertile ground here.

[ "Cultured Conversations: Black Inclusion in Opera" is free and open to those who identify as Black. To register, go to seattleopera.org/blackinclusion ]

Ballerina Misty Copeland recreates one of Degas' paintings

REPRESENTATION MATTERS | "Just as brown girls deserve to watch ballerinas with their skin tone dance, and yellow boys deserve to see movies with a handsome hero who looks like them (not just another ninja), people of color deserve to see themselves represented in this beautiful space: McCaw Hall. We need to see stories that hold up our complexity and potential on an equal arm’s length to white people and European traditions. Is opera willing to help make this happen?" - Gabrielle Nomura Gainor, Madame Butterfly program

Opera singer Mary Elizabeth Williams with supernumerary Kendall Green, the two played Elizabeth I, adult and child, in the opera Mary Stuart.

Porgy and Bess Broadcast Night Q&A with Speight Jenkins

After every performance, General Director Speight Jenkins hosts a free Q&A session in the lecture hall at McCaw Hall. Listen to this live recording as Jenkins candidly answers the audience's questions after the Saturday, August 6 performance of Porgy and Bess. This Q&A session was also broadcast live on KING FM and can be found on their 24-hour Seattle Opera Channel.

Meet Our Singers: Lisa Daltirus, Bess

Lisa Daltirus, our terrific Bess, returns to Seattle Opera--where she's most recently starred as Leonora in Il trovatore, and also as Aida and Tosca--in one of her favorite roles. She talks about playing both Bess and Serena in this opera, about touring with the South African production, and what she loves about Seattle.

How many times have you sung the role of Bess? What excites you about singing this opera?
I have had the fortune to alternate between Bess and Serena in about 10 productions. I love the extreme differences in these characters and enjoy exploring both. Bess has more development and dimensions to explore, which make it fun to sing and perform. I always look for layers in my characters and nuances of emotion and interaction. I strive to take the audience on a character's journey and show the struggle and heart of Bess. Of course, I love wearing the red dress!!

Lisa Daltirus (Bess) and Michael Redding (Crown) in Seattle Opera's current production of Porgy and Bess.
Photo by Elise Bakketun

Audiences here enjoyed your performance as the fearsome Tosca, and now you’re playing a much gentler (though equally loving) character, Bess. Which of these characters has more in common with you as a person?
That's an interesting question as both roles rank among my favorites and I identify with both characters. For me they have similarities in personality. Both are perceived as tough on the outside in the initial introduction. However, we are quickly shown their Achilles heel, their desperation for survival, their drive to fix their situation by any means necessary. I certainly identify with thinking on your feet to solve a challenging problem and being influenced in certain decisions by love. I believe most of us have both fearsome and gentle characteristics in our make up.

Lisa Daltirus (Tosca) and Greer Grimsley (Scarpia) in Seattle Opera's 2008 production of Tosca.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch

Can you speak about how this opera plays in South Africa, versus how it’s received here in the United States? Have you noticed a different attitude toward Porgy and Bess abroad?
I performed a new production of Porgy and Bess with the Capetown Opera in South Africa that toured the UK ...Wales, London and Scotland. The production did not debut on the Capetown stage. But the concept set the drama in Soweto, in the time of apartheid. There were some specific changes and additions to the scenes and spontaneous dialogue that were specific to that culture and time in history. So in fact I don't know first-hand how the traditional Porgy and Bess plays to the audience in Capetown. I was told that the company has staged it for their home audience and it had lukewarm reviews because they didn't really identify with American southern culture of the 1930's. However, when we performed the new concept in the UK it was an overwhelming success. I also understand that the Barkhymer production that tours Europe regularly is very enthusiastically received.

Lisa Daltirus as Aida in Seattle Opera's 2008 production.
Photo by Bill Mohn

You’ve starred in several Seattle Opera productions now, and must know the city a bit. Do you have any fun area activities planned for your summer?
I absolutely LOVE coming to Seattle and consider it an operatic home. I have also had the good fortune to bring my children for vacation while I have been performing. The city has many fun things to do and we love the distinctive sections and neighborhoods. I love the Seattle Center activities, the Space Needle, and the lakes. I have not enjoyed an Argosy tour yet, and, strangely, have not yet visited Pike Place Market. I plan to change that situation! Otherwise, I will just enjoy revisiting the neighborhoods. I will also savor the low humidity.

Do you have a favorite performance of a song from Porgy and Bess by a non-opera performer?
It is wonderful to have so many renditions available to enjoy by a diverse group of performers. However, due to growing up in a household that had a heavy jazz influence, I love Ella Fitzgerald's "Summertime" and the instrumental arrangements of Miles Davis.