Organization

Glimmerglass Festival

Conductor

Kwamé Ryan

Stage director

Tazewell Thompson

Set designer

Donald Eastman

Costume designer

Jessica Jahn

Lighting designer

Robert Wierzel

Singer

Bass

Kenneth Kellogg

The Father

Baritone

Will Liverman

The Reverend

Soprano

Vuvu Mpofu

Girlfriends/Congregants

Rehanna Thelwell

Tenor

Martin Mkhize

Policemen/Congregants

Thando Mjandana

Vimbayi Kaziboni

Jonathan Taylor Rush

Mezzo-soprano

Aundi Marie Moore

The Mother

Darius Gillard

The Son

Eric Norbury

Thembinkosi Magagula

Charles Williamson

De Nationale Opera

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Washington National Opera

Orchestra

Residentie Orkest

English

Blue

Washington D.C.

United States

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Amsterdam

Netherlands

Public

Private

Approved

In Harlem, a black couple anticipates the birth of its first-born son, with both hope and anxiety. The mother worries about her son’s future as she watches him become a young man and enter the world of activism.

Singers: Aundi Marie Moore, Vuvu Mpofu, Thembinkosi Magagula, Rehanna Thelwell
Conductor Kwamé Ryan with Residentie Orkest Den Haag

Opera Blue The Mother and The Girlfriends | Dutch National Opera

Stage director Tazewell Thompson about the opera Blue | Dutch National Opera

Opera has rarely been as topical as Blue. In Harlem, a black couple anticipates the birth of its first-born son, with both hope and anxiety. The mother worries about her son’s future as she watches him become a young man and enter the world of activism. Meanwhile, the father tries to open his son’s eyes to the realities of 21st century America, whilst simultaneously struggling with his own identity as a police officer, a ‘Black man in blue’. When the parents’ deepest fears come true, they have to find a way to cope with reality.

Stage director Tazewell Thompson about the opera Blue | Dutch National Opera

A powerful portrait of an African-American family
Dutch National Opera presents the European premiere of Blue , an opera by the Tony Award-winning American composer Jeanine Tesori and American librettist and director Tazewell Thompson. Inspired by today's America and black literature, they tell about a community in turbulent times, which finds support and strength in togetherness. A devastating event leads to sadness, but also to connection, in which the shared music plays an important role.

 The opera, which had its world premiere during the Glimmerglass festival in July 2019, was overtaken by reality by the events surrounding George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement that spread around the world and for which countless people took to the streets in Amsterdam. An opera on the cutting edge, which partly because of this won the Music Critics Association of North America Award for Best New Opera in 2020.

Blue by Tesori, From (2022/2023), Directed by Tazewell Thompson,, Conductor Kwamé Ryan, Vimbayi Kaziboni, Jonathan Taylor Rush, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., United States

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Co-Producer

Program, About & Synopsis

Videos

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues