SFJAZZ presents Terence Blanchard's Champion: An Opera in Jazz
Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA
7:30 PM, Tuesday, February 23, 2016

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[7:35 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [7:35 PM] ?
2. [7:46 PM] ?
3. [7:47 PM] ?
4. [7:51 PM] ?

1. [7:59 PM] ?
2. [8:02 PM] ?
3. [8:05 PM] ?
4. [8:09 PM] ?
5. [8:14 PM] ?
6. [8:16 PM] ?
7. [8:19 PM] ?

1. [8:23 PM] ?
2. [8:26 PM] ?
3. [8:30 PM] ?
4. [8:35 PM] ?
5. [8:41 PM] ?
   [set ends ~8:40 PM]

[9:05 PM lights down]

1. [9:05 PM] ?
2. [9:08 PM] ?
3. [9:15 PM] ?
4. [9:18 PM] ?

1. [9:25 PM] ?
2. [9:29 PM] ?
3. [9:35 PM] ?
4. [9:37 PM] ?

1. [9:43 PM] ?
2. [9:50 PM] ?
3. [9:52 PM] ?
4. [9:58 PM] ?

1. [10:01 PM] ?
2. [10:02 PM] ?
3. [10:06 PM] ?
4. [10:17 PM] ?
   [show ends 10:21 PM]

• Moses Abrahamson: boy soprano vox, Kid Emile Griffith;
• Aisha Campbell: soprano vox, Cousin Blanche;
• Mark Hernandez: tenor vox, Ring Announcer;
• Evan Holloway: boy soprano vox, Kid Emile Griffith;
• Kenneth Kellogg: bass vox, Young Emile Griffith;
• Joe Orrach: speed bag performer, choreographer;
• Robert Orth: baritone vox, Howie Albert;
• Andres Ramirez: tenor vox, Luis Rodrigo Griffith;
• Michelle Rice: mezzo-soprano vox, Kathy Hagan;
• Victor Ryan Robertson: tenor vox, Benny ‘Kid’ Paret;
• Karen Slack: soprano vox, Emelda Griffith;
• Chabrelle Williams: soprano vox, Sadie Donastrog Griffith;
• Arthur Woodley: bass vox, old Emile Griffith;
• with a Chorus of reporters, photographers, hat makers, men at the boxing gym, Caribbean paraders, and drag queens: CJ Blankenship; Alyssa Cataldi; Michael Mohammed; Chester Pidduck; Tamara Richards; John Roevekamp; Sabrina Romero; Yemonja Stanley; Alex Taite; Nicole Takesono; John Vitale; Krista Wigle; and Carrie Zhang.

• Jaz Sawyer: drums;
• Marcus Shelby: contrabass;
• Edward Simon: piano.

Opera Parallèle

• Laura Anderson: stage manager;
• Matthew Antaky: lighting designer;
• Terence Blanchard: composer;
• Michael Cristofer: libretto;
• Christine Crook: costume designer;
• Dave Dunning: set designer;
• David Murakami: media designer;
• Nicole Paiement: artistic director, conductor;
• Jeanna Parham: wigs and makeup;
• Brian Staufenbiel: creative director.

As a quick aside, the current correspondence between the scene titles and the tune/recital times is purely speculative; neither bit of info is really all that accurate. Sorry!

First impressions at half time: a really good show, but also really different from standard opera. Good musical numbers, less good during the somewhat lengthy narrative sections. I'm gonna say that unless the piece is being composed to target length, the next iteration will be slightly shorter. There's always fat to be sliced from the bone, no?

The 'Old Emile' character reminds me a lot of a developmentally disabled guy that I worked with at Cal for about a year. Still see him now and then. Very smiley and easy going, but not very good at keeping all his marbles in the bag. I bet he'd appreciate the show, and revel in his physical resemblance to Arthur Woodley. The boy Emile put on a great performance in his song of suffering. Oh Devil, make me strong! Indeed, indeed! Devil, if you inside me, make me STRONG!

Post-show impressions? Impressive! It was a fine show. The message of self-acceptance and self-forgiveness is a good one. An important one. A reminder that “one should to thine own self be true” – and a tough lesson to learn in the face of consumer society and the pressure to conform to cultural norms. It's tough being the warped floorboard or the loose nail trying to hold that board flat.

Overall, I thought the show was really well done. Excellent lighting and use of sound. The language part didn't sit quite so well on my ears – I can't quite identify what bothered me about it – too many consonants? I dunno. Just “not good enough” for me to skip mention of… Terence Blanchard posted a promo for the work on YouTube.

• Jeff Kaliss: promo article
• Stephen Smoliar: promo article
• Pamela Feinsliber: review
• Joshua Kosman: review
• Georgia Rowe: review
• Steve Winn: review

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!