Champion:
An Opera in Jazz
MAY 20 & 22 | 2022
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Music by Terence Blanchard
Libretto by Michael Cristofer
Haunted by the memories of his prize-winning boxing past, welterweight champion Emile Griffith reflects on his life as he navigates the meaning of masculinity and complex sexuality. Multi-talented composer Terence Blanchard seamlessly fuses opera and jazz styles to create this unique work based on a true story that’s not to be missed.
Champion: An Opera in Jazz contains adult themes including explicit language, non-consensual sexual situations, and physical violence.
Press Release
Champion was commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and co-commissioned by Jazz St. Louis. The commissioning of Champion was made possible with a leadership gift from the Whitaker Foundation, and with generous support from the Fred M. Saigh Endowment at Opera Theatre and the National Endowment for the Arts. Funded in part by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.
Community engagement programming for Champion was supported in part by the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, Reopen Creative Boston Fund, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.
In his apartment on Long Island in the present day, Emile Griffith struggles to dress himself, confused. Luis, his adopted son, partner, and caretaker, helps him get ready for an important meeting, as Emile’s memories intensify…
In the 1950s on the island of St. Thomas, Emile is a young man who dreams of reuniting with his mother, Emelda, and becoming a hat maker, singer, and baseball player. He moves to New York City and finds her, and though she doesn’t recognize him, she is overjoyed to reunite with one of the children she left behind. She brings him to meet Howie Albert, a hat manufacturer, hoping to find Emile work. Howie sizes up Emile and immediately recognizes his potential as a boxer. He offers to train him as a welterweight, and Emile quickly develops his natural talent and physique, as Emelda urges him to give up his other dreams. But Emile is lonely and struggles with his identity. He goes to a queer bar in Times Square and meets Kathy, the owner, who welcomes him into an exciting but scary new community. Emile opens up to Kathy about his childhood and the cruelty he experienced from a fundamentalist relative.
In 1962, Emile is set to fight Benny “Kid” Paret in a high-profile match. When they face off at weigh-in, Paret taunts Emile, calling him “maricon,” a Spanish slur for homosexuals. Emile is furious, and they nearly come to blows right there. Howie pulls him away, but when Emile begins to explain why the insult hit so close to home, Howie refuses to have the conversation, telling him that the boxing world is not a place where he can be open about his sexuality. Alone, Emile wrestles with his sense of manhood and self. The fight begins and quickly becomes heated. Paret continues to mock him, and as the fight escalates, Emile delivers seventeen blows in seven seconds. Paret collapses, falls into a coma, and later dies.
Back in the present day, lost in his memories, Emile thinks that he sees Paret and speaks with him. Luis reorients him and reminds him that today, they will go to meet Paret’s son.
As the 1960s continue, mile amasses more wins, more fame, and more notoriety, but internally, he is haunted by memories of Paret and grapples with his identity. He meets and marries a woman named Sadie, against the advice of Howie and Emelda. In the 1970s, however, his luck changes. He is on a losing streak and starting to show signs of “boxer’s brain” due to chronic traumatic brain injury. Emile rejects the support of his family and Howie, returning to a queer space he frequents, outside of which he is brutally beaten by a group of bigots.
In the present, overcome with memories of the attack, Emile becomes agitated and confused; Luis calms him, reminding him all of that is in the past. They go to meet Kid Paret’s son, Benny Paret, Jr., and Luis tells Benny about Emile’s condition. Emile expresses regret and asks Benny for his forgiveness, as voices from Emile’s past intensify and crescendo in his mind.
Luis takes Emile back home. Alone once more, Emile’s memories recede and hush.
When Opera Meets Jazz: A Brief History
One day, a New York Times article made the striking announcement that there was a “Jazz Opera in View for the Metropolitan.” The company expressed interest in producing an opera of the “modern American type.” Branching out beyond the European canonical repertory, the article explained, was a necessary innovation which would “bear important fruit in the near future.” If these sentiments – a desire to expand the repertory, a commitment to foregrounding new work – sound familiar, then it may come as a surprise to learn that this article was published nearly a century ago: on November 18, 1924. What’s [...]
Baritone Markel Reed “brings great articulate power and style” (Broadway World) to concert, recital and opera performances throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. A passionate conveyor of the operatic repertoire, Reed has been cited for “delight[ing] the crowd with his musical and dramatic expression” (Upstage Post) in both standard and contemporary works. Reed’s 2021-22 season opened with the premiere of Damien Sneed and Karen Chilton’s The Tongue & The Lash at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where he portrayed “a credible James Baldwin and sang through his argument with power and finesse” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). At the Metropolitan Opera, Reed performs with the ensemble in productions of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, also covering Foreman/Adult James and in Porgy and Bess, also covering the role of Lawyer Frazier. No stranger to these productions, Reed sang with the Metropolitan Opera’s chorus in their GRAMMY Award-winning Porgy and Bess in 2019. That same year, he created the role of Chester in Fire Shut Up in My Bones in its premiere at Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Grammy Award winning American mezzo soprano Tichina Vaughn has established an important presence among the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls and theaters. As an outstanding singing-actress versatile in opera, operetta, musical theater, and jazz, Vaughn continues to gather both popular and critical acclaim. Ms. Vaughn began her operatic career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program.
Originally from Dubuque, Iowa, Wayne Tigges joins Tulsa Opera for Jochanaan in Salome, and returns to the role of Howie Albert in Champion in his Boston Lyric Opera debut in the 2021/22 season. His recent engagements include: Mr. Flint in Billy Budd (San Francisco Opera); Owen Hart in Dead Man Walking (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Atlanta Opera); Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd (San Francisco Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera); Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia (LA Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Chicago); Frank in Die Fledermaus (Palm Beach Opera); John Proctor in The Crucible (Opera Santa Barbara); title role of Der fliegende Holländer (Atlanta Opera, Virginia Opera, Austin Opera and Florentine Opera); Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana and Tonio in I Pagliacci (New Orleans Opera); the title role in Gianni Schicchi and Tonio in I Pagliacci (Utah Opera); Sgt. Aaron Marcum in the world premiere of Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s An American Soldier and Mr. McGuire in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Méphistophélès in Faust (Macau); Howie Albert in Blanchard’s Champion and Assur in Semiramide (Washington National Opera); Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann (L.A. Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater); the title role in Falstaff (Des Moines Metro Opera); Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress (Teatro Municipal de Santiago); Roy Cohn in Angels in America (New York City Opera); Joe St. George in the world premiere of Picker’s Dolores Claiborne (San Francisco Opera); Achilla in Giulio Cesare (Metropolitan Opera); the Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Hercules in Gluck’s Alceste, Douglas in La donna del lago, and Nourabad in Les pêcheur de perles (Santa Fe Opera); and Donner in Das Rheingold and both Zuniga and Escamillo in Carmen (Los Angeles Opera). Wayne Tigges received a graduate degree and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and his Bachelor of Music from Iowa State University.
A renowned opera singer, recitalist, and cabaret artist, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is one of the most highly respected and critically acclaimed artists of her generation. Her repertoire ranges from Handel to Wagner, French art song to contemporary and classic American song. She has performed on many of the world’s greatest stages, such as Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Paris National Opera and the San Francisco, Chicago Lyric and Seattle opera house. She starred in the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD broadcasts of Orfeo ed Euridice, Il Trittico, Rodelinda, Cendrillon, and the complete Ring Cycle and also appeared in PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Carousel and her acclaimed show, We’ll Meet Again: The Songs of Kate Smith. Her recordings include her solo album, as long as there are songs (Innova), and works by Mahler, Brahms, Wagner, Handel and Bach (Virgin Classics). Ms. Blythe was named Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year in 2009, received an Opera News Award in 2007 and won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award in 1999. She is also the Artistic Director of the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at the Crane School of Music, and in 2019 was appointed the Artistic Director of the Bard College Conservatory of Music Graduate Vocal Arts Program.
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont Street | Boston, MA | 02116
Recognized as a Boston Historic Landmark, the Cutler Majestic combines state-of-the-art theater facilities and old world charm with impeccable acoustics originally intended for opera performances.
SEATING
Seating is divided into three levels: Orchestra, Mezzanine, and Balcony.
The Mezzanine and Balcony are accessible by stairs in the main lobby; there is no elevator access to these levels.The Mezzanine overhangs the Orchestra after row K.
ACCESSIBILITY
There is no elevator access to the Mezzanine and Balcony.
Restrooms are located in the lower lobby and accessible by elevator.
There are 30+ stairs to reach the Mezzanine and 60+ stairs to reach the Balcony.
Listening devices are available at the box office windows in the lobby.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms for all patrons are on the balcony level and the lower lobby level.
COAT CHECK
There is no coat check available at the Cutler Majestic Theatre
COVID-19 Policy
Please view the Cutler Majestic’s Shared Code of Conduct page for the theater’s COVID-19 protocols. All patrons attending any production at the Cutler Majestic must be in compliance with the venue’s Shared Code of Conduct.
For press images, please visit
Champion: An Opera in Jazz Media Kit
PRESS
First-rate! Terence Blanchard keeps the score swinging throughout.”
– The Arts Fuse
I was excited when Boston called and said that they wanted to produce “Champion” years ago — and all of a sudden the pandemic hit, and then it kind of just threw things out of whack. But I’m glad to see that we’re back on track. And I’m excited because, you know, Boston is one of those towns that has a serious music history.
– Terence Blanchard (interview with WGBH)
“’It’s really a story about people, it’s a story about acceptance, and the things that society chooses to accept and the things that society chooses to condemn,’ says (Brian) Major. ‘There is a striking quote from Griffith himself that punctuates the show. I killed a man and the world forgives me; I love a man and the world wants to kill me.’”
– Bay State Banner
“Redemption is the key. Because the whole opera is based on [Griffith] having a flashback as an elderly man suffering from dementia. But once he gets to meet Benny Paret, Jr. at the end of the performance, who tells him the family doesn’t harbor any ill will toward [Griffith], he just loses it. To see that this man had been carrying the weight of this event throughout his life, you know, to be redeemed in such a way by a family member I know had to be something that was really special for him.”
–The Boston Globe
Cast Photos
Season artwork created by Myung Hee Cho.