Bill Doggett: The World Premiere of "The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis

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 15^th, 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 22^nd and June 23^rd.    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.