Baritone Will
Liverman stars as civil rights leader Malcolm X in new
production by Tony-nominated director Robert O'Hara
The historic Live in HD transmission to
be hosted by award-winning actress Angela Bassett, who portrayed the wife of
Malcolm X in the 1992 film starring Denzel Washington
DENVER, Nov. 8, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Opera's 2023–24 Live in HD
season continues with the company premiere of Anthony Davis's X: The Life and Times of
Malcolm X on Saturday, November
18, at 12:55PM ET via Fathom
Events. The influential opera, which had its world premiere in
1986, is newly staged by Tony-nominated director of Slave
Play Robert O'Hara, who
imagines Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends space and
time. With a libretto by Thulani
Davis and story by Christopher Davis, the opera explores how
one man's fight to define his life on his own terms becomes a
battle cry for justice for an entire people.
Fathom Events will also present two encores of Anthony Davis's X: The Life and Times of
Malcolm X on Wednesday, November
29 at 1:00PM and 6:30PM local time.
Tickets for Anthony Davis's X:
The Life and Times of Malcolm X are on sale through
the Fathom Events website and participating theater box
offices. For a complete list of theater locations, visit
fathomevents.com (participating theaters are subject to
change).
Conductor Kazem Abdullah
conducts the newly revised score, which features a layered,
jazz-inflected setting for this powerful historical drama. The cast
stars Grammy Award–winning baritone Will
Liverman, who triumphed in the 2021 Met premiere of
Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up
in My Bones, as Malcolm,
alongside soprano Leah
Hawkins as his mother, Louise, and wife, Betty;
mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis as his sister Ella;
bass-baritone Michael
Sumuel as his brother Reginald; and tenor
Victor Ryan Robertson as
Nation of Islam leader Elijah
Muhammad.
X follows Malcolm's journey from his original identity as
Malcom Little, born to Reverend
Earl Little and his wife, Louise, in
Lansing, Michigan, to Malcolm X
after he studies and accepts the teachings of the Nation of Islam,
and beyond. The opera represents Malcolm's life as one of boundless
evolution, whose messages of Black self-sufficiency and
self-determination were often at odds with the mainstream but
continue to resonate today.
Led by O'Hara, the creative team also includes set designer
Clint Ramos, costume designer
Dede Ayite, lighting designer
Alex Jainchill, projection
designer Yee Eun Nam, wig
designer Mia Neal, and
choreographer Rickey
Tripp—all in their Met debuts.
Gary Halvorson will direct
the Live in HD presentation for cinemas, with award-winning
actress Angela Bassett
serving as host. Bassett starred as Dr. Betty Shabazz, alongside Denzel Washington as Malcolm, in the 1992 film
Malcolm X. She will provide exclusive behind-the-scenes
access and conduct interviews with the cast and creative team
during intermission.
The Stars of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm
X
Kazem Abdullah,
conductor; Indianapolis, Indiana
Leah Hawkins, Louise/Betty;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Raehann Bryce-Davis, Ella/Queen Mother; Keene, Texas
Victor Ryan Robertson,
Elijah/Street; Atlanta,
Georgia
Will Liverman, Malcolm X;
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Michael Sumuel, Reginald;
Odessa, Texas
More Information
Click here and enter the
password MetOpera2020 for photos of X: The Life and Times
of Malcolm X.
For further details on X: The Life and Times of Malcolm
X, please click here.
The 2023–24 Live in HD season continues with Florencia
en el Amazonas (live on December
9, with encores on December
13), Nabucco (live on January
6, with encores on January
10), Carmen (live on January
27, with encores on January
31), La Forza del Destino (live on March 9, with encores on March 13), Roméo et Juliette (live on
March 23, with encores on
March 27), La Rondine (live on
April 20, with encores on
April 24), and Madama
Butterfly (live on May 11, with
encores on May 15). All performances
will be Saturday matinees transmitted live from the Met stage. An
encore screening of Mozart's The Magic Flute from 2006 will
also be presented in select cinemas on December 2.
About Fathom Events
Fathom is a recognized leader in
the entertainment industry as one of the top distributors of
content to movie theaters in North
America. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC);
Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK); and Regal, a subsidiary of the
Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L), Fathom operates the largest cinema
distribution network, delivering a wide variety of programming and
experiences to cinema audiences in all of the top U.S. markets and
to more than 45 countries. For more information, visit
FathomEvents.com.
The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a
generous grant from its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family
Foundation. Digital support of The Met: Live in HD is
provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met: Live in HD
series is supported by Rolex.
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