The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Terence Blanchard's Champion opened Monday April 10—and the reviews are in!
Characterized by the composer as an "opera in jazz," Blanchard's first opera is based on the life of welterweight boxing champion Emile Griffith. This is the second opera by Blanchard to be performed at the Met, after the 2021-22 season opened with the Met premiere of Fire Shut Up In My Bones.
In Champion, Bass-Baritones Eric Owens and Ryan Speedo Green play the role of Emile Griffith, with Owens playing the retired boxer in the early 2000s, and Green playing his younger self. Soprano Latonia Moore plays Griffith's mother Emelda Griffith. The cast also includes Stephanie Blythe as Kathy Hagen, Paul Groves as Howie Albert, and Eric Greene as Benny “Kid” Paret. Tony nominee Lee Wilkof makes his Met debut as the Ring Announcer. Performances run through May 13.
Read the reviews here.
Financial Times (George Grella)
New York Classical Review (David Wright)
New York Times (Zachary Woolfe)*
TheaterMania (Zachary Stewart)
*This review requires creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
Champion is directed by James Robinson and choreographed by Camille A. Brown, reuniting after their Met productions of Porgy and Bess and Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the latter of which Brown also co-directed. The creative team also includes set designer Allen Moyer, costume designer Montana Levi Blanco, lighting designer Donald Holder, and projection designer Greg Emetaz.
The Met's 2022-23 season continues with revivals including Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, Puccini's La Bohème, and Verdi's Aida. New productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte, directed respectively by Ivo van Hove and Simon McBurney, round out the end of the season. The recently announced 2023-24 season will feature six new productions, including four Met premieres, as well as revivals of Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones and Kevin Puts' The Hours. This increased focus on newer works is part of the Met's strategy to attract and engage new audiences.
Terence Blanchard and company of Champion
Terence Blanchard and company of Champion
Terence Blanchard and company of Champion
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and company of Champion
Company of Champion
Company of Champion
Eric Owens and Ryan Speedo Green and company of Champion
Ethan Joseph, Eric Owens, and Latonia Moore in Champion
Latonia Moore in Champion
Eric Owens, Eric Greene, Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore, and Stephanie Blythe in Champion
Eric Owens, Eric Greene, Paul Groves, Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore, and Stephanie Blythe in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ethan Joseph, Ryan Speedo Green, and Stephanie Blythe in Champion
Ethan Joseph, Ryan Speedo Green, and Stephanie Blythe
Ryan Speedo Green and company of Champion
Eric Owens and Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green, Eric Owens and company of Champion
Eric Owens and Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green and company of Champion
Company of Champion
Edward Nelson and Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Eric Owens and Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green and company of Champion
Eric Owens, Ryan Speedo Green, and company of Champion
Eric Greene, Paul Groves, Ryan Speedo Green, and Latonia Moore in Champion
Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Helena Brown, Tschombe Selby, Eric Greene, Ryan Speedo Green, and Latonia Moore in Champion
Ethan Joseph and company of Champion
Krysty Swann, Ethan Joseph, and Ryan Speedo Green in Champion
Stephanie Blythe, Ryan Speedo Green, and company of Champion
Stephanie Blythe, Ryan Speedo Green, and company of Champion
Stephanie Blythe, Ryan Speedo Green, and company of Champion
Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, and Paul Groves
Latonia Moore and Ryan Speedo Green
Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, and Paul Groves
Cast of Champion
Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, and Paul Groves
Ryan Speedo Green, Paul Groves, and Latonia Moore
Ryan Speedo Green, Paul Groves, and Latonia Moore
Latonia Moore and Ryan Speedo Green
Ryan Speedo Green and the Cast of Champion
Edward Nelson and Ryan Speedo Green
Paul Groves
Eric Owens, Ryan Speedo Green, and Lee Wilkof
Eric Greene and Eric Owens
Ryan Speedo Green and Paul Groves
Stephanie Blythe, Paul Groves, Ryan Speedo Green, and Brittany Renee
Ryan Speedo Green and the Cast of Champion
Lee Wilkof, Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, and Paul Groves
Paul Groves and the Cast of Champion
Eric Owens and Chauncey Packer
Brittany Renee and Ryan Speedo Green
Ryan Speedo Green, Paul Groves, and Latonia Moore
Ryan Speedo Green and Eric Greene
Eric Greene and Ryan Speedo Green
Ryan Speedo Green and the Cast of Champion
Paul Groves, Ryan Speedo Green, and Latonia Moore
Ryan Speedo Green
Ryan Speedo Green
Ryan Speedo Green