I was drawn to Blue, but I also didn’t want to see it. I was drawn to see it because I am a fan of modern opera, and I believe racism needs to be addressed in opera. I didn’t want to see it because I knew it would be painful, a young black man shot and killed by police; the horror of all the shootings reported in news headlines were pain enough. I also wanted to know if it was a good opera, beyond the timeliness of its story. Would it both entertain and touch our hearts? I wanted to know what understanding it might provide that I was lacking and what it had to add to our understanding of this societal controversy. I was curious how police would be portrayed. Part of me wanted to attend; part of me wanted to let it go, stay home, and watch basketball. With considerable trepidation and after much procrastination, I decided to attend.
left photo: Kenneth Kellogg as The Father and Briana Hunter as The Mother celebrate the arrival of their baby boy. right photo: Sixteen years later, the same couple grieves over the death of their son. Photos by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.
Blue premiered at Glimmerglass Festival in 2019 and was to have appeared next in March 2020 at the Kennedy Center when the pandemic shut down Washington National Opera’s rehearsals; it has since been performed in several American cities and abroad at the Dutch National Opera. The opera has won awards, and partially due to the timeliness of its subject matter, much has been written about it. Commissioned in 2015, the opera was borne of Francesca Zambello’s concern about what was happening in American society and her desire to see opera address race in America, which led to her contacting composer Jeanine Tesori to have her compose an opera for Glimmerglass, which led to the composer contacting poet, playwright, and director Tazewell Thompson to serve as librettist. Ms. Tesori is one of the most prolific and highly honored composers for musical theater, and she has also composed a children’s opera for WNO, The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me (2013). Together the pair, with occasional discussions with Ms. Zambello, created the opera that became Blue. Mr. Thompson who grew up in Harlem says that he felt the story as he created it. He identifies with the son in the story, which made him at first resist Ms. Tesori’s suggestion that the father be a police officer and not the struggling jazz musician he first envisioned; and therein lies the title of the opera, Blue for the blue police uniforms.
l to r: Katerina Burton as Girlfriend 2, Briana Hunter as The Mother, Ariana Wehr as Girlfriend, and Rehanna Thelwell as Girlfriend 3. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.
In Blue, we see a family and friends react to a mother’s pregnancy carrying a son and then the aftermath when that teenage son is shot and killed by a white police officer during a protest. Ms. Zambello, who served both Glimmerglass and Washington National Opera in 2015 did not want the opera to take sides; she wanted to present the human not the political element. The son, made rebellious by the social injustice of his daily life, had been involved in several minor, provocative illegal acts, and the police, in confronting protesters, resorted to excessive, lethal force; the only other detail provided in the libretto is that the officer who had done the shooting was white. Mr. Thompson, who was an altar boy and star boy soprano in his church, learned about Greek opera in his Catholic schooling. The team decided to use a Greek tragedy format with the violence not being seen on stage. The team also decided not to give the characters specific names; we only know them in their roles as father, mother, son, reverend, girlfriends, and policemen buddies; the team wanted the audience to see themselves in the characters. Librettist Thompson took the Greek format further using the three girlfriends of the mother as furies, or fate, that pleaded with the mother to get rid of the child because it was a black boy to be born in America. He also presents three policemen, colleagues and friends of the father, with more heroic temperaments; they only envy their colleague for getting a son on the first try. God and religion presented by The Reverend are a strong, cohesive force in the community.
l to r: Jonathan Pierce Rhodes as Police Officer Buddy 2, Kenneth Kellogg as The Father, Camron Gray as Police Officer Buddy 1, and Christian Simmons as Police Officer Buddy 3. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.
I found the storytelling in Blue to be masterful, though the ending was at first unsettling. After the expressions of anguish and torment and a final prayer, what seemed to be the final scene evolves to become a family dinner with the father, son, and mother, but I suppose that served as a reminder of what had been lost. One might have wished for more in the development of these likeable characters but that would have taken a series not a single opera. Character development is not a part of Greek tragedy. The few moments of comic relief provided by the girlfriends and the policemen were most appreciated. The elements of racism in the story are there mainly because they are present in life today, including young black men being shot and killed by police. One racial disparity point made directly was the opening scene as a large man dressed in a hoodie sits in a chair as policemen approach; he gets up to leave but in each direction he turns he is confronted by a policeman. Quickly he discards his clothing and dresses in his blues; then, there is laughter and hugs all around for the same black man.
Kenneth Kellogg as The Father and Aaron Crouch as The Son. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.
Mr. Thompson also served as the stage director for this production. The set is simply a projected image of a tenement building in Harlem. Props such as chairs, tables, beds, and a casket are moved on and off stage as the scenes unfold. The placement and movement of the characters was well choreographed.
All operas are plays set to music, but Blue seems especially so. The story and the emotional vocals take center stage, and I found the orchestral music, when I noticed it, to be somewhat spare, mostly accents and embellishments; perhaps I need another listen. The music, as played by the WNO Orchestra under the direction of Conductor Joseph Young was enjoyable. Ms. Tesori’s score draws on many genres, including blues, jazz, and hymns, as well as classical styles, and dissonance is employed as called for by tension in the scene. I would invite a fuller orchestral treatment for this work as an opera, even a prelude, likely a necessity for becoming entrenched in the modern repertoire.
Joshua Conyers as The Reverend and Kenneth Kellog as The Father. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.
A talented cast of singers was headed by bass Kenneth Kellogg who has played the role of the father in all productions so far of Blue. Mr. Kellogg has a fine, resonant bass voice, and uses it effectively to convey the emotion of the father’s many moods. He often extended and held his ending notes to great dramatic effect. Explaining his commitment to Blue, he has said “I knew this story in my soul. A Black story. Opera was no longer about the other. It was about us.” Mezzo-soprano Briana Elyse Hunter portrayed the mother; she originated the role at the Glimmerglass Festival. She sang beautifully with affecting emotion in the work’s different musical genres, her voice carrying warmth as the expectant mother; one could easily envision her on Broadway as well as the opera stage. The angry teenage son, stigmatized in his own community because his father was a policeman, was played by tenor Aaron Crouch who also originated the role at Glimmerglass. At first, he sounded somewhat light-voiced in this group of artists, but that improved. The duet between father and son, as their deep love and need for each other was pushed aside by their conflicts, was a highlight of the performance.
It was a pleasure to see still-young baritone Joshua Conyers, well known in this area, return to play an elder, The Reverend. He gave a stellar, moving performance in that role, steadfast with God, as he desperately tries to reign in the profound anger of The Father, in the face of excruciatingly painful tragedy. The supporting casts of girlfriends and policemen were outstanding. The trio of women included soprano Katerina Burton, mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell, and soprano Ariana Wehr, who also had an impressive performance as the nurse. They brought infectious life and energy to the stage. The men included tenor Camron Gray, tenor Jonathan Pierce Rhodes, and bass-baritone Christian Simmons, who brought a sense of deep friendship to their roles as police friends. The supporting casts of women and men also portrayed members of the congregation who served as an especially good-sounding chorale, making me wonder and hope that Ms. Tesori has written other religious works to enjoy.
In the closing scene of Blue, the Reverend and congregation stand while on the right a memory takes place of father, son, and mother sharing a meal. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.
I suppose each member of the audience took away something different from the performance of Blue on Saturday night. The grief at the loss of a young son certainly resonated with me. I refused to let awareness of my son come to mind while watching the opera, and I’ve never had to worry he was in danger because of the color of his skin. Did the opera add to the discourse on this topic? Well, no, not in a political sense. Well, what did it add beyond revisiting the pain of these shootings? Perhaps because I needed to, I latched onto a line delivered by The Reverend near the end, a prayer where he said, “God, through thy love, may we find a deeper understanding of each other.” For many perhaps that was a throwaway line, but I needed the glimmer of hope it provided, that if we get to know one another, then Mr. Thompson will be wrong in his expressed sentiment that “the themes in Blue have no expiration date”. I pray that one effect of the opera will be to move the needle towards a deeper understanding of each other, providing hope and a way forward. Yes, Blue’s arrival in the turbulence of current events is by its nature a plea to white conscience and a call for justice, but its dart is pointed at our hearts – may we have a deeper understanding of each other. Amen.
The Fan Experience: Blue, scheduled for performances on March 11, 13, 17, 19, 22, and 25, in the smaller KC Eisenhower Theater, is close to a sellout with few tickets remaining. The opera is sung in English with English supertitles. The opera is 2 hours, 15 minutes long plus a 25-minute intermission, just under three hours in all.
The first few scenes occur at a time before The Son has been killed, but my response to those scenes was certainly anchored by the knowledge of what was coming. Blue does not include scenes of violence, and its language is PG – I can only remember one example of profanity.
Washington National Opera has produced a studio recording of Blue, available for purchase.
Parking in the Kennedy Center is typically plentiful at around $25 per day, with a small discount for Kennedy Center members when reserved ahead of the day. The Metro to Foggy Bottom and the free Red Kennedy Center buses from there to the Kennedy Center which run every 15 minutes are an excellent option. Neither masking nor proof of vaccination is required to attend performances, but many in audience still wear masks.