Premieres Friday, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings)
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 its first production back 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 with 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 at 9 p.m. ET 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 (check local listings).
#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 the upcoming Reopening: The Broadway Revival. The collection of #PBSForTheArts programs is available at pbs.org/arts and the PBS Video app. Curated conversation and digital shorts are also available on PBS social media platforms using #PBSForTheArts.
Cast:
- Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Conductor
- Angel Blue – Destiny/Loneliness/Greta
- Latonia Moore – Billie
- Will Liverman – Charles
- Walter Russell III – Char’es-Baby
- Audra McDonald – Host
Creative:
- Terence Blanchard – Composer
- James Robinson – Co-Director
- Camille A. Brown – Co-Director, Choreographer
- Paul Tazewell – Costume Designer
- Greg Emetaz – Projection Designer
- Allen Moyer – Set Designer
- Christopher Akerlind – Lighting Designer
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. Fire Shut Up in My Bones is 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.
Corporate support for Great Performances at the Met is provided by Toll Brothers. For Great Performances, funding is provided by The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, and Jody and John Arnhold.
Websites: http://pbs.org/gperf, http://facebook.com/GreatPerformances, @GPerfPBS, http://youtube.com/greatperformancespbs, giphy.com/great–performances #GreatPerformancesPBS #PBSForTheArts
