Fire Shut Up In My Bones Is Jan. 8, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: Fire Shut Up In My Bones is the Jan. 8, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as the 2021-2022 season's fifth Saturday matinee opera broadcast.

Fire Shut Up In My Bones opened Met Opera's 2021-2022 season as the opera company's first presentation of an opera by a Black composer; the Network Broadcast Premiere Performance of the opera's Oct. 23, 2021, Saturday matinee airs Jan. 8, 2022, as the season's fifth Saturday matinee opera broadcast: Charles M. Blow @CharlesMBlow, via Twitter Sep. 19, 2019

Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones is the Jan. 8, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, scheduled as the fifth Saturday matinee opera broadcast in the 2021-2022 season.

Fire Shut Up in My Bones by American jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) received eight performances in the 2021-2022 season. The opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere took place Saturday, Sep. 27, at 6:30 p.m. The second through eighth, closing performances were offered Friday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 8, at 7:00 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 16, at 1:00 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 7:00 p.m.; and Saturday, Oct. 23, at 1:00 p.m.

The opera's Jan. 8, 2022, Saturday matinee opera broadcast airs as a Network Broadcast Premiere Performance. The Saturday matinee opera broadcast plays the matinee performance from Saturday, Oct. 23, which closed the opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere season.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the opera's first through third and fifth through eighth, closing performances. MetOpera's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, in the opera house's 946th performance of Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875).

Yannick Nézet-Séguin shared the conductorship with American conductor Kazem Abdullah, who conducted the fourth performance, Friday, Oct. 8. Kazem Adbdullah's conductorship of the Oct. 8 performance marked his Met Opera debut.

Will Liverman sang Charles, whose emotional arc traverses childhood trauma to adult healing. The American operatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, as Malcom Fleet in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Marnie by American contemporary classical music composer Nico Asher Muhly (born Aug. 26, 1981).

Fire Shut Up In My Bones numbers as the first of three Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Will Liverman. He sang Papageno in the Dec. 18 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of The Magic Flute, the abridged English-language version of Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). He also sings Horemhab in the May 28, 2022, Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Akhnaten by American composer Philip Glass (born Jan. 31, 1937).

Angel Blue sang Greta and the female spirits of Destiny and Loneliness, all of whom guide Charles from stored trauma to healing release. The American operatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, as Mimì in the opera house’s 1,306th performance of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Fire Shut Up In My Bones numbers as the first of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Angel Blue. She also sings the female title role in the April 23 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Porgy and Bess by American composer and pianist George Gershwin (Sept. 26, 1898-July 11, 1937).

Latonia Moore sang Billie, Charles's mother, who longs for improvement beyond working in a chicken-processing factory. The American soprano had made her Met Opera debut Saturday, March 3, 2012, in the title role in the opera house's 1,122nd performance of Aida by 19th-century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Fire Shut Up In My Bones numbers as the first of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Latonia Moore. She also sings Serena in the April 23 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

The Metropolitan Opera commissioned Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones. The opera originally was commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and co-commissioned by Jazz Saint Louis. Met Opera's production is co-produced with Los Angeles Opera (LA Opera) and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

James Robinson and Camille A. Brown are the production's directors. Camille Brown is also the production's choreographer. The American stage director and the American choreographer had made their Met Opera debuts Monday, Sep. 23, 2019, in the opera company's 55th performance of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

The opera's production team comprises Allen Moyer, set designer; Paul Tazewell, costume designer; Christopher Akerlind, lighting designer; and Greg Emetaz, projection designer. American set designer Allen Moyer made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, May 2, 2007, in the opera company's 83rd performance of Orfeo ed Euridice by German classical composer Christoph von Gluck (July 2, 1714-Nov. 15, 1787). American costume designer Paul Tazewell made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, in the opera company's 734th performance of Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893). American lighting designer Christopher Akerlind made his Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 10, 2006, in the opera company's 551st performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868). American projection designer Greg Emetaz made his Met Opera debut in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Robinson and Brown's production of Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones.

The Metropolitan Opera notes the historicity of the 2021-2022 season's Metropolitan Opera premiere of Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones on the opera's page on the opera company's website. The opera's Saturday, Sep. 27, 2021, opening night marked ". . . the Met's first performance of an opera by a Black composer."

The takeaways for Fire Shut Up In My Bones as the Jan. 8, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast are that Blanchard's jazz opera airs as the fifth Saturday matinee opera broadcast in the 2021-2022 season; that the opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere marks the opera company's first presentation of an opera by a Black composer; and that Fire Shut Up In My Bones numbers as the first of three Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Will Liverman and the first of two for Angel Blue and Latonia Moore.

Will Liverman, Angel Blue and Latonia Moore created Met Opera's roles of Charles, Greta / Destiny / Loneliness and Billie, respectively, in the September 2021 Metropolitan Opera premiere of Terence Blanchard's same-titled operatic adaptation of Charles Blow's Fire Shut Up In My Bones: Met Opera Guild @MetOperaGuild, via Twitter July 15, 2021

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Fire Shut Up In My Bones opened Met Opera's 2021-2022 season as the opera company's first presentation of an opera by a Black composer; the Network Broadcast Premiere Performance of the opera's Oct. 23, 2021, Saturday matinee airs Jan. 8, 2022, as the season's fifth Saturday matinee opera broadcast: Charles M. Blow @CharlesMBlow, via Twitter Sep. 19, 2019, @ https://twitter.com/CharlesMBlow/status/1174761165844557824

Will Liverman, Angel Blue and Latonia Moore created Met Opera's roles of Charles, Greta / Destiny / Loneliness and Billie, respectively, in the September 2021 Metropolitan Opera premiere of Terence Blanchard's same-titled operatic adaptation of Charles Blow's Fire Shut Up In My Bones: Met Opera Guild @MetOperaGuild, via Twitter July 15, 2021, @ https://twitter.com/MetOperaGuild/status/1415751799684861963

For further information:

Charles M. Blow @CharlesMBlow. "OMG! OMG! OMG! My opera is coming to the Met!!!! “In its 136-year history, the Metropolitan Opera has never staged an opera by a blk composer. But that will finally change: The company said on Thursday that it would present ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones,’...” Twitter. Sep. 19, 2019.
Available @ https://twitter.com/CharlesMBlow/status/1174761165844557824

“Debut: Latonia Moore.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354395 Aida {1122} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/03/2012.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354395

“Debuts: Alexander Soddy, Angel Blue, Duncan Rock.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356747 La Bohème {1306} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/2/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356747

"Debuts: Bartlett Sher, Catherine Zuber, Christopher Akerlind, Rob Besserer." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351644 New Production Il Barbiere di Siviglia {551} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/10/2006.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351644

"Debuts: Des McAnuff, Robert Brill, Paul Tazewell, Kelly Devine, Sean Nieuwenhuis, Jonathan Beyer." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354183 New Production Faust {734} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/29/2011.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354183

"Debuts: James Robinson, Camille A. Brown, Frederick Ballentine, Chauncey Packer, Reginald Smith, Jr., Jamez McCorkle, Grant Neale, Bobby Mittelstadt, Damien Geter, Chanáe Curtis, David Leong, Arthur Woodley, Michael Lewis, Neo Randall, Jonathan Tuzo." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357253 New Production Porgy and Bess {55} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/23/2019.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357253

"Debuts: Mark Morris, Allen Moyer, Isaac Mizrahi." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352019 New Production Orfeo ed Euridice {83} Metropolitan Opera House: 05/02/2007.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352019

“Debuts; Robert Spano, Marie Te Hapuku, Stacey Tappan, Peabody Southwell, Gabriel Gurevich, Adrienne Phillips, Lynne Page, Will Liverman.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357028 Marnie {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/19/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357038

"Debuts: Walter Russell III, Terrence Chin-Loy, Briana Hunter, Cierra Byrd, Chris Kenney, Calvin Griffin, Greg Emetaz, Brittany Renee." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357471 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Fire Shut Up In My Bones {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/27/2021, Broadcast/Streamed/Times Squarecast/Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park. (Opening Night {136} Peter Gelb General Manager Debuts: Walter Russell III, Terrence Chin-Loy, Briana Hunter, Cierra Byrd, Chris Kenney, Calvin Griffin, Greg Emetaz, Brittany Renee Broadcast/Streamed/Times Squarecast/Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park). Metropolitan Opera House. September 27, 2021 Broadcast/Streamed/Times Squarecast/Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park. Opening Night (136) Peter Gelb General Manager. Metropolitan Opera Premiere.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357471

"Debuts: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Richard Eyre, Rob Howell, Irene Bohan, Elizabeth Caballero, Maria Kowroski, Martin Harvey." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353274 New Production Carmen {946} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/31/2009. Sirius and XM Metropolitan Opera Broadcast New Year's Eve Gala.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355517

Marriner, Derdriu. "Met Opera's 2021-2022 Season Has 28 Saturday Matinee Broadcasts." Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 22, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/11/met-operas-2021-2022-season-has-28.html

Met Opera Guild @MetOperaGuild. "Summer Reading: Excited for the return of live opera at the Met and the historic opening night performance of Fire Shut Up in My Bones? Check out the moving memoir by Charles M. Blow that inspired Grammy Award-winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard's adaptation." Twitter. July 15, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOperaGuild/status/1415751799684861963

Miller, Sarah Bryan. "Opera Review: 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones' Tells a Gritty Story in Jazz." St. Louis Today > St. Louis Post-Dispatch > Entertainment > Arts & June 16, 2019.
Available @ https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/culture-club/opera-review-fire-shut-up-in-my-bones-tells-a-gritty-story-in-jazz/article_8d04335a-670e-5bc9-821d-c3dc1f391288.html