Review: X Marks the Spot at Met Premiere of 'X: Life and Times of Malcolm X'

It’s taken a long time for X: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X—the rediscovered and revised ‘80s work by Anthony Davis, Thulani Davis and Christopher Davis, in Robert O’Hara’s production and conducted by Kazem Abdullah--to cross the plaza from what was the old City Opera at New York State Theatre to the Metropolitan Opera.

The Met’s premiere, headlining baritone Will Liverman as X, tenor Victor Ryan Robertson as Elijah, and soprano Leah Hawkins and mezzo Raehann Bryce-Davis (both double cast), is based on its initial Detroit Opera incarnation. With its Afro-futuristic view, it was worth the wait—for audiences at least. For the history of “Black Lives Matter,” the opera's taking more than 30 years to cross Lincoln Center Plaza, well that’s another story.

Nonetheless, X falls into a category that has been called “a CNN opera,” but maybe it’s CNN that has turned the news into something that’s more operatic. The heightened awareness and emotions of opera more easily express what words alone are often hard-pressed to communicate without seeming trite.

Clearly, this is a story of operatic proportions. The classical score, by Anthony Davis, not easily categorized and varied as the story it tells, is tinged with jazz and other music—pop, chants, blues, swing, atonal and melodic--more in tune with the era covered by Thulani Davis’s libretto (based on Christopher Davis’s story). Under conductor Abdullah, with the Met orchestra and Donald Palumbo’s chorus, the score excited and thrilled the senses as we see a life covered down to its essence and watch and hear a man evolve without giving up his ideals but at great cost.

He goes from the child who has seen (not literally) his father be mowed down by white men to the jailhouse convert to the credo of Elijah Muhammed and the Nations of Islam to a man who has taken his beliefs too far for Elijah and sets off to Mecca to be reborn—only to be gunned down before he can bring this new, more assuredly unity-oriented self to others.

The strong cast, under director Abdullah with choreographer Rickey Tripp, did a fine job in making real what could have just become mythic character from recent times. I’ve sometimes found Liverman less than charismatic, until I heard him in Rene Orth’s 10 DAYS IN A MADHOUSE in Philadelphia and realized what a fine character actor he is. Here, as Malcolm, even when his voice was consistently strong enough, he was clearly at his best in those scenes where he had call on his acting resources as his Malcolm developed, morphing into the man whose life was cut short. (His younger self was impressively portrayed by Bryce Christian Thompson.)

Soprano Hawkins, with her powerful voice, was superb as both Malcolm’s mother and, later, his wife, while velvet-toned mezzo Bryce-Davis was fine as his sister and Queen Mother. Tenor Robertson did excellent work, first as Street, who unfortunately leads Malcolm into the after-hours life in Boston and, most notably, Elijah Muhammed, who was first Malcolm’s model then his political opponent.

Sometimes an episodic treatment--as the creators chose for X--can make the storytelling feel too disjointed, but not here, where it moved the story along precisely and clearly.

I must admit that I sometimes felt that you needed to go into the production well-versed in Afro-futurism--which envisions alternate, liberated futures for people of African descent, sometimes using sci fi and technology images--to get the most out what was happening.

The significance of the outre costumes occasionally on hand (by designer Dede Ayite with wigs by Mia Neal) and the UFO-like disc--a la “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”-- looming over the stage (by set designer Clint Ramos, with Yee Eun Na’s projections) was not necessarily apparent to those uninitiated. They were useful as a backdrop for headlines and rallying cries for the African-American community, but sometimes looked like leftovers from a sci-fi movie.

The production was obviously enlarged to fit the needs of the mammoth stage of the Met and I occasionally had the feeling that this was a story that had been swallowed up by the set, even though its importance was undeniable. I had similar feelings about the fine dancers carrying through Tripp’s work; while they were exciting additions in some parts of the production, at other times they appeared less necessary.

Nonetheless, X: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X, was an exceptional night at the opera, both musically and historically. It will be on stage at the Met through December 2, including the Saturday matinee on November 18 at 1pm (EST), which will be part of the Met’s Live in HD series. For more information see the Met’s website.

Photo: Marty Sohl/The Met

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