Seattle Opera X: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MALCOLM X February 24 through March 9, 2024 Opening Night Review
X: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MALCOLM X
Seattle Opera
Music by Anthony Davis
Libretto by Thulani Davis
Story by Christopher Davis
Directed by Robert O’Hara
McCaw Hall
Seattle, WA
February 24, 2024 7:30pm
The latest production at the Seattle Opera is the seasonal contemporary offering "X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X". A packed opening night on Saturday evening made for an electric atmosphere inside McCaw Hall.
The Seattle Opera has really been following their charge from 2020 and beyond by incorporating stories and talent from people of color. I will always commend any institution that walks the proverbial walk. And the Seattle Opera has been doing this in spades. Major respect.
If I judge the opera purely as an opera, blocking out the social and cultural significance, I was left torn after the performance.
The strengths were the performers, the staging, and the lighting design. All were superb and they really created a polished environment for the story to unfold about Malcolm X. The voices were spectacular and they were definitely a highlight for me.
The areas of need for me included the music and most definitely the story. Before people grab their pitchforks or start hurling harsh comments my way via social media, let me explain my perspective. As a musician, I can absolutely appreciate what Anthony Davis created with the music. After all, he is an award winning and internationally respected musician. For someone like me that is not overly fond of the jazz genre, the foundation of the music for the opera was already shaky. Add in the constant use of suspensions and dissonant musicality and I found the music hard to swallow. I’m fully aware certain scenes required this uneasy aspect of the music to further the storyline but overall I just couldn’t help but think there were other ways to get the point across musically.
As for the story, if you went into the performance without knowing anything about Malcolm X’s life, you may have left not knowing much more about his life and times as the title suggests. I knew a few bullet points about his life but I was really lacking in his background. I found the story confusing and it seemed to jump around his timeline in a way that I really didn’t get a feel for who the man was by the end of the performance. Keep in mind again that the performances on stage were mesmerizing so I really wanted to enjoy the story to further that appreciation but it just didn’t happen for me.
As I have stated in basically any review I’ve ever done for any artistic area, a simple litmus test for me is would I see an event again. In the case of “X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X” the overly simple answer would unfortunately be a soft no.
I’m sure many will disagree with my review and that’s more than fine. Do me a favor and please check out an upcoming performance and then let me know your thoughts.
"X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X" has performances on March 1, 3, 6, & 9th. Purchase tickets: HERE!
Best,
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts Media
Connect with Eclectic Arts Media: Social Media Links Here
Seattle Opera
Music by Anthony Davis
Libretto by Thulani Davis
Story by Christopher Davis
Directed by Robert O’Hara
McCaw Hall
Seattle, WA
February 24, 2024 7:30pm
(Kenneth Kellogg (Malcolm X) in "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X" at Seattle Opera. Credit: Philip Newton)
The latest production at the Seattle Opera is the seasonal contemporary offering "X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X". A packed opening night on Saturday evening made for an electric atmosphere inside McCaw Hall.
The Seattle Opera has really been following their charge from 2020 and beyond by incorporating stories and talent from people of color. I will always commend any institution that walks the proverbial walk. And the Seattle Opera has been doing this in spades. Major respect.
If I judge the opera purely as an opera, blocking out the social and cultural significance, I was left torn after the performance.
The strengths were the performers, the staging, and the lighting design. All were superb and they really created a polished environment for the story to unfold about Malcolm X. The voices were spectacular and they were definitely a highlight for me.
(Kenneth Kellogg (Malcolm X, standing) with members of the Ensemble for "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X" at Seattle Opera. Credit: Philip Newton)
The areas of need for me included the music and most definitely the story. Before people grab their pitchforks or start hurling harsh comments my way via social media, let me explain my perspective. As a musician, I can absolutely appreciate what Anthony Davis created with the music. After all, he is an award winning and internationally respected musician. For someone like me that is not overly fond of the jazz genre, the foundation of the music for the opera was already shaky. Add in the constant use of suspensions and dissonant musicality and I found the music hard to swallow. I’m fully aware certain scenes required this uneasy aspect of the music to further the storyline but overall I just couldn’t help but think there were other ways to get the point across musically.
As for the story, if you went into the performance without knowing anything about Malcolm X’s life, you may have left not knowing much more about his life and times as the title suggests. I knew a few bullet points about his life but I was really lacking in his background. I found the story confusing and it seemed to jump around his timeline in a way that I really didn’t get a feel for who the man was by the end of the performance. Keep in mind again that the performances on stage were mesmerizing so I really wanted to enjoy the story to further that appreciation but it just didn’t happen for me.
As I have stated in basically any review I’ve ever done for any artistic area, a simple litmus test for me is would I see an event again. In the case of “X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X” the overly simple answer would unfortunately be a soft no.
I’m sure many will disagree with my review and that’s more than fine. Do me a favor and please check out an upcoming performance and then let me know your thoughts.
"X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X" has performances on March 1, 3, 6, & 9th. Purchase tickets: HERE!
Best,
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts Media
Connect with Eclectic Arts Media: Social Media Links Here
(Joshua Conyers (Reginald) and Kenneth Kellogg (Malcolm X) with members of the Ensemble in "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X" at Seattle Opera. Projection design by Yee Eun Nam. Credit: Sunny Martini)
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