St. Louis, MO—March 30, 2022—Great Performances: Fire Shut Up in My Bones premieres Sunday, April 3, 3 pm, on Nine PBS and streams live during broadcast and on the free PBS Video App.
Originally commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and co-commissioned by Jazz St. Louis, the 2019 premiere at the Opera Theatre played to sold-out crowds and rave reviews in St. Louis. Now, the Grammy-winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s memoir marks the Metropolitan Opera’s first performance of an opera by a Black composer and its first production back in its theater following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
Featuring a libretto by acclaimed filmmaker Kasi Lemmons (a St. Louis native), the opera tells the story of a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma and hardship. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown co-direct this new staging; Brown, who is also the production’s choreographer, becomes the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production. After its internationally acclaimed 2021 premiere at the Met, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is appearing at the Lyric Opera of Chicago through April 8.
Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald hosts PBS’s Great Performances at the Met: Fire Shut Up in My Bones as part of #PBSForTheArts. The broadcast is part of season 16 of Great Performances at the Met with 10 new operas premiering in 2022.
Watch a preview here.
Caption: Angel Blue, Walter Russell III, Latonia Moore, and Will Liverman in Great Performances at the Met: Fire Shut Up in My Bones.
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