REVIEW
The World Premiere of The Central Park Five, a new opera by
Anthony Davis with libretto by Richard Wesley commissioned and presented by
Long Beach Opera
Bill Doggett writes
Dateline, June 15th, 2019, The Warner
Grand Theater, San Pedro California, a restored Art Deco movie palace was the
showcase location for the world premiere of Long Beach Opera’s commissioned presentation
of Anthony Davis’ The Central Park
Five.
Presented two weeks after Ava Duvernay Netflix Series “When
They See Us” on The Central Park Five, a diverse and large audience was treated
to a cutting edge new opera that added a new dimension, depth with an
exceptional new score that enlarged the pallete of iconic operas by the great
Anthony Davis.
Renowned for his 1986 landmark opera, X, The Life and
Times of Malcolm X , Amistad, the opera about the slave ship
rebellion and Tania, the story about the abduction/kidnapping of Patty
Hearst and related drama with The Symbionese Liberation Army and Wakonda’s
Dream about the plight of American Indians in Nebraska, Anthony Davis’
operas are landmarks of political discourse and exploration of historical and
contemporary topics in American history.
Davis’ operas are richly hewn in intricate African
polyrhythms, jazz improvisation, electronics and extraordinary vocal
writing.
The music of The Central Park Five expanded upon
Davis’ rich compositional palette with intricate vocal ensemble block
scoring writing for the voices of the five Principal male singers that was
fresh and impactful with influences reminding one of the harmonic exquisiteness
of Take Six and the sound world of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
A complex score
conducted brilliantly by the renowned Leslie B Dunner with Direction/Production
design by Long Beach Opera’s Artistic and General Director, Andreas Mitisek,
Davis’ opera provides both a discourse and exploration of the historical and
contemporary issues of Implicit Bias, Institutional Racism in the Criminal Justice
System and historic and contemporary
issues of the Impact of Racism and ideas of White Supremacy that were deeply
embedded in the world of 1989 New York City.
This world of racism and white supremacy is embedded in
the opera’s sung and spoken character, The Masque who appears throughout
the opera.
Donald Trump who began his political career taking out
$85,000 ads in major New York newspapers calling for the death penalty of The
Central Park Five also shows up in a role that represents not only the nemesis
of the youth but additionally represents a clairvoyance for white nationalist
ideas that have empowered his Presidency.
Davis’ The Central
Park Five explores additional topics which marked the 1989 Trial that are
contemporary in 2019 i.e. forced confessions, police brutality, disingenuous
prosecution without collaborating Evidence, the death penalty and the tragedy
of lengthy incarceration sentences for black and brown Americans for crimes not
committed.
Davis and Wesley’s The Central Park Five is indeed
an impactful and dynamic opera that addresses all of the issues
central to The Black Lives Matter Movement.
The five principals who sing the roles of The Central
Park Five were brilliant in their portrayals of the intricate vocal writing. They are Derrell Acon{ Antron McCray},Nathan
Granner{Korey Wise} Orson Van Gay {Raymond Santana} Cedric Berry {Yusef Salaam}
and Bernard Holcomb {Kevin Richardson}. They are assisted in comparable
brilliance by Babatunde Akinboboye {Matias Reyes-the man who committed the
crime}, Lindsay Patterson and Joelle Lamarre, the mothers of Yusef and Antron and Ashley Faatoalia who
plays Antron’s father. The roles of
Donald Trump, The District Attorney and The Masque are performed by Thomas
Segen, Jessica Mamey and Zeffin Quinn Holis.
There are two more performances of this impactful new
opera by Anthony Davis and Richard Wesley on
June 22nd and June 23rd. For tickets, visit www.longbeachopera.org
About the author, Bill Doggett is a well
respected historian, archivist and published specialist in African American
Performing Arts History. During 2013, he worked as the marketing agent for
Anthony Davis on his new chamber opera, Lear on The Second Floor and
promotion for the revival of X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X.
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