Stunning. What a joy for all opera lovers in Chicago, but especially the Black audience. There are 23 in the vocal cast, 12 dancers, and five actors. Except for the lack of an elephant, it could have been Aida.
Photo credit: Lyric Opera Chicago
Photo credit: Sun Times
The story is based on the memoir of New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. His adolescence in Louisiana, youngest of five boys, was marred by sexual abuse by a cousin. He grew up feeling unloved, and likely looked for it in the wrong places. He began to find his way at Grambling University as a scholarship student, only to have his heart broken in an affair with a woman.
It was 2010 when Oprah broke open the Black male world of “down-low”. There clearly were gay, bi, curious Black men, but it was never discussed--certainly never acknowledged by family and friends. Though not mentioned overtly, I felt that Charles was struggling to emerge from that scarred life. The abuse and the hatred for his rapist are the fire in his bones.
Photo credit: Times Weekly
Before the curtain came up, the Executive Director of the Lyric came on stage and announced that within the last week, they had to replace three major vocalists due to illness: Charles, the star, Billie, the mother, and Evelyn, the college romance. The opera went off without a hitch. Justin Austin, the adult Charles, was the perfect combination of anger and angst. His beautiful baritone carried strongly through the impressive range of the role. Likewise, Whitney Rose, a Chicago soprano, played Billie, the mother, with a realistic combination of tenderness, selfishness, and exasperation. After all, she is a mother to five boys, wife to a philandering, absent husband, and breadwinner. It is her relationship with Charles that is the core of Fire Shut Up in My Bones.
Photo credit: Sun Times
While the audience did not leave the theater humming new tunes, I felt throughout the libretto there were riffs and lyrics that could easily translate into popular songs. After all, Blanchard is one of our most famous jazz composers.
Fire pays homage to historical opera. Blanchard uses repetitive sequences like you find in Handel operas, though not as long. Dance is significant. Historically grand operas included ballet—think Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor. In Fire, the dance corps perform modern ballet and a rousing number based on fraternity initiation rites. They were integral to the story.
Unlike some operas where the music is the thing, Fire is both the story and the music. Highly recommended for adventurous opera lovers.