Backstage at the Metropolitan Opera: 'Champion' tells the tragic tale of boxer Emile Griffith
Musica is granted backstage access at New York's Metropolitan Opera for the rehearsals of 'Champion,' the modern masterpiece that reflects the Met’s vision for the future.
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00:00 Musical is proudly presented by Rolex.
00:15 A groundbreaking opera shown for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
00:21 Champion.
00:22 The Met was the pinnacle of my dream where I went since I was a little kid.
00:26 I always wanted to sing here.
00:32 These are some of the most amazing voices on the planet and to hear them sing something
00:36 that I've created is overwhelming.
00:42 I just hope that this audience comes in and kind of drops their preconception of what
00:46 they think opera is supposed to be because this is not just an opera.
00:55 We go behind the scenes to follow the exciting rehearsal process as it builds up to the opening
01:01 night.
01:05 Unboxing the Met's new Champion, round two.
01:17 The final countdown has begun.
01:23 Two weeks to go until the premiere of Champion, an opera in jazz.
01:29 The orchestra is rehearsing but what you see is only the tip of the iceberg.
01:34 The Met is like a huge ocean liner that never stops.
01:40 We literally have a stage that is in 24-hour use because after this morning we had a rehearsal
01:45 for Champion, tonight we have a performance of Rosenkavalier.
01:49 Overnight a night gang will be transforming the scenery back to Champion so we can resume
01:54 rehearsing it tomorrow morning.
01:56 So it's non-stop.
01:57 That's the way we like it.
02:02 It's controlled chaos.
02:08 The famous jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard made history in 2021 as the first black composer
02:15 to have his work shown at the Metropolitan Opera.
02:19 Being here is surreal for me.
02:23 I'm a jazz musician, that's not my daily grind.
02:27 This place has so much history in it and you can feel it in the walls.
02:32 And there's so many great people working here who have been here for years who know what
02:36 they're doing.
02:38 Many artisans and artists are working towards one goal, to stage the compelling drama about
02:44 Emil Griffith, the true story of one of the greatest boxers of all time.
02:51 I play the Emil that is still innocent with big dreams and big hopes and in the process
02:56 of the opera you see those hopes become less hope and more what reality is and him having
03:03 to not only cope with the fact that he is sexually not what he originally thought he
03:10 was and getting to a point where he realizes the society does not accept who he is and
03:17 it crushes him.
03:24 Emil Griffith came to New York in the 1950s.
03:28 His boxing career skyrocketed and he became a world welterweight champion.
03:33 But he struggled being bisexual in a masculine sport.
03:38 In 1962 his opponent, Benny Kidd Perrette, whispers homophobic slurs to him.
03:43 Emil Griffith knocks him into a coma and he dies shortly after.
03:50 He was haunted by guilt for the rest of his life.
04:05 To set this gripping story to music, the composer fuses different musical genres, from gospel,
04:12 calypso to traditional opera, samba and jazz styles.
04:17 Improvisation is a key element in this opera.
04:26 I think the challenge here is something that is coming out of the fact that we are not
04:32 used to having a jazz quartet in the pit.
04:36 But when we have this drum set, in a way once you start the number, the drummer becomes
04:42 kind of the conductor.
04:43 And so there is this wonderful interaction that I get to have with the drummer to kind
04:47 of negotiate a little bit on tempos.
04:50 Being a jazz musician, I've never played the same tune the same way.
05:02 You know, that's just not what we do.
05:05 So I allow them a lot of freedom because it's about expressing yourself, you know, and it's
05:11 about finding that vibration that kind of best tells the story at that moment.
05:30 I can add my own special flavor, my own special color.
05:46 So I'm looking forward to surprising even the orchestra on opening night.
05:50 They'll have to come every night.
05:51 Every performance to see what she does.
05:52 Because I'm going to do something different every night.
05:55 So I can't wait to play.
05:56 And that's for me as a person who doesn't have that background, and watching her and
05:59 watching some of the other singers in the show has been a learning experience for me.
06:06 I'm excited to see what she can do.
06:31 Huge dance numbers add a special flavor to this groundbreaking opera.
06:52 It's another challenge for the cast.
06:54 They're put to the test in a movement class.
07:02 I was really excited to work with the actors on their different movements.
07:08 And I was really inspired by the rhythm that Terrence composed.
07:11 So I wanted to do something that incorporated boxing moves and warm-ups, but had a rhythm
07:18 to it.
07:19 So we had push-ups in there, we had jabs.
07:22 So a little bit of everything.
07:31 I'm realizing that I'm not only an opera singer, but I have the heart of a dancer.
07:35 And it may not be that way for the dancers watching me dance, but I feel like I'm really
07:41 treading new ground as a performer, getting in my body.
07:45 This show, specifically "Champion," is showcasing that we as opera singers have more than just
07:50 voices.
07:51 While rehearsals are in full swing, the final touches on the costumes are made.
08:04 What we're doing is figuring out the lettering and spacing.
08:09 Right now we're cheating it lower so that when the hood's down, you can still see the
08:15 name.
08:16 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Madison Square Garden!
08:21 Tensions are rising and everything happens under the watchful eye of the stage managers
08:25 who coordinate a huge group of people.
08:28 Maestro, we're ready.
08:31 Thank you.
08:32 We're going to go back and do this earlier when we come back.
08:36 You need to be calm.
08:37 You need to be able to handle crises and keep everybody else calm.
08:43 Yasmine is out there calling all the rail queues, everything that flies, the deck queues,
08:46 the automation, everything that moves.
08:48 And for the artistic process, she's out with the director in the house.
08:52 I'm on stage communicating back with her and I'm making sure I get all the people there,
08:57 all the costume changes, all the props are set.
08:59 So between the two of us, we manage everything.
09:06 For me, the biggest challenge is it's a brand new opera.
09:09 And we have a living composer who's sitting two seats away from me in the house.
09:13 So musically, it requires a little more effort to get to know the piece and understand the
09:19 musical language because modern musical language can be very different from sort of doing a
09:24 historical Mozart or anything like that.
09:27 Finally, it's opening night and the magic happens.
09:37 The curtain rises for almost 4,000 people to see this new production of Champion.
09:58 This masterpiece is also part of the Met's vision for the future.
10:16 The company is trying to change the face of opera with accessible new works and stories
10:22 people can relate to.
10:28 The goal is to bring people into the room so they can experience opera.
10:36 There was a gentleman who said to me, he said, "Man, if this is opera, I'll come."
10:50 And that blew me away because basically he's telling me, you know, I saw myself on the
10:55 stage.
10:56 I saw a story that I knew about, something that can relate to my life.
11:03 We can certainly make efforts to make opera more relatable and more relevant for a broader
11:07 and younger audience.
11:08 And we have to.
11:12 It's also why we're going to be presenting over the next five seasons 17 Met premieres,
11:20 which is an unparalleled number of new work, probably in the entire history of the Metropolitan
11:26 Opera in all of its 140 years.
11:33 With this opera Champion, I have the opportunity to break the preconceptions of opera goers.
11:39 When opera fans and fanatics come see the show, they're going to experience and see
11:43 things they don't normally see.