Champion: Live in HD Transmission Transcript
READ: Brownlee Intro
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Hello. I'm Lawrence Brownlee, and welcome to today's performance of Champion, the knockout opera by jazz great Terence Blanchard. The opera is the true story of the closeted boxer Emile Griffith whose life was tragically defined by the death of his friend and archrival in the ring.
Champion, with a libretto by Pulitzer Price-winning playwright, Michael Cristofer, stars not one but two exceptional bass baritones in the title role, Ryan Speedo Green as the young boxer on the rise and Eric Owens who portrays the younger Emile on a lifelong quest for redemption. The Met music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a great supporter of the transporter power of new opera, will be on the podium to conduct. But first, the Met's general manager, Peter Gelb, will speak with the man of the house, composer Terence Blanchard.
INTERVIEW: Peter Gelb w/ Terence Blanchard
PETER GELB: Hey, Terence.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Hey.
PETER GELB: Thank you so much for giving us this gift of an opera.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Sure
PETER GELB: It's—and the second one, so we're so grateful. You know, as you know, the Met is trying to change the face of opera with accessible new work and with stories that people can really—audiences today can really relate to. And certainly your story, the story you chose of the life of Emile Griffith, is a story that's full of tragedy and human drama. Maybe you can tell us why you chose this story.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Well, I think the thing that drew me to Champion was the whole notion of somebody being that accomplished and not being able to celebrate that openly with somebody that he loved. I mean, I thought about the first time I won an award. I just turned to my wife without thinking, gave her a kiss and a hug and went up on the stage. And to think that this guy became welterweight champion and wasn't allowed to do that, plus the line, you know, near the end of the opera where he says, you know, "I killed a man and the world forgave me, yet I loved a man and the world wants to kill me," is a very powerful statement.
And for me, these are issues that we should be well past in our society. So, you know, I really wanted to do something to help bring attention to that.
PETER GELB: You know, we're presenting your operas in reverse order.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Right.
PETER GELB: Last season, we presented your second opera.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Right.
PETER GELB: Champion is your first.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Right.
PETER GELB: Last season was Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which is another true story about someone who is trying to come to grips with personal trauma, in this case, in their youth.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Yes. Right.
PETER GELB: What draws you to these dark stories of redemption?
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Well, you know, part of it is probably some of the things that I experienced in my life growing up, wanting to be a musician, not being the most popular thing to do in my neighborhood, walking to the bus stop with these glasses on, carrying a horn, feeling—
PETER GELB: In New Orleans.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: In New Orleans, feeling that isolation. The other thing too, I think, you know, about it is that it's the powerful nature of overcoming these obstacles. When you look at what Charles had to go through, he became a very—he was a very—he is a very resilient personality and you look at—
PETER GELB: This is Charles Blow, the central character—
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Charles Blow, exactly.
PETER GELB: —of Fire Shut Up In My Bones.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: And then with Emile Griffith, it's the same thing. I mean, look at what he went through, and he carried that pain for generations until he met with Benny Paret, Jr. and that kind of absolved him of all of the guilt that he had been suffering. So it's the human side of these stories that really grabs my attention.
PETER GELB: When you—you know, there's a subtitle for this opera which is An Opera in Jazz. What does that mean, if you could explain that to the audiences tuning in today?
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Well, the reason why we say that is because we don’t want people to be confused about what the opera is. We don’t want people to come into the theater thinking that they're going to hear big band or a jazz band swinging throughout the entire thing from beginning to end. I'm trying to do what the great composers before me like Puccini and Stravinsky have all done, is to take the DNA from all of those elements and use them to tell a story.
PETER GELB: You know, well, certainly I think Puccini would be feeling very pleased with his successor in composing today.
So, you know, for me, it's very gratifying to look out at an audience and seeing young and diverse faces.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Yes.
PETER GELB: Opera hasn't always been that way, and you're changing that. How does it feel for you to see that?
TERENCE BLANCHARD: It's an overwhelming feeling, to be honest. I mean, I've got to thank you for putting us on at the stage here. But when I look out in the audience and I see that diverse crowd, I'm looking at a group of people who I think have been overlooked for a long time. And a lot of those folks have been telling me, well, if this is opera, I'll come. And that means a lot to me because, you know, we're servicing a group of people who have been yearning for this type of entertainment.
PETER GELB: Well, we hope that you keep writing operas for us and they'll keep coming and we'll keep producing them.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Okay.
PETER GELB: And we're looking—you know, we're looking for opera number three.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Okay.
PETER GELB: I know we're going to be talking about that.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Yes, yes, yes. Can I get some sleep first, though?
PETER GELB: You're entitled to some well-deserved sleep.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Thank you. Thank you.
PETER GELB: Anyway, thank you so much for letting us have this treasure of an opera.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Thank you, Peter. Thank you, man.
PETER GELB: Thank you so much.
TERENCE BLANCHARD: Than you. Appreciate it.
READ: Brownlee Throw to Act I
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: James Robertson's Met premiere production of Champion sweeps from the audience from a colorful festival in the Caribbean to the gritty streets of New York to the high-stakes battleground of the boxing ring. Joining Ryan Speedo Green and Eric Owens is a dazzling soprano cast including soprano Latonia Moore as Emile's manipulative mother, Emelda, tenor Paul Groves as his ambitious manager and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as the raunchy gay bar owner, Kathy Hagen. It's a vivid cast of characters. Maestro Nézet-Séguin is ready to go to the pit. Here is Champion.
INTERVIEW: Brownlee w/ Ryan Speedo Green
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: I'm with our star, Ryan Speedo Green. Speedo, incredible first act. You've had a meteoric—meteoric rise on the stage. How does it feel to be performing your first title role?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: It feels amazing. I mean, it's kind of fate that I started here as a professional opera singer singing the Mandarin in Turandot in the famous Zeffirelli production, and now I get to do the first lead role of my career here at the Metropolitan Opera.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yeah. Emile Griffith, which is such a rich role, and why don't you tell us about the showstopping aria at the end of Act I. It pretty much sums up your character, right?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah, I mean, this opera is sort of—I feel really related to Emile's story of breaking the preconceptions of, you know, what is a man. You know, I grew up in the South, a very different interpretation of what is a man compared to Emile. Emile is not only one of the best fighters of his generation, but he also was a hatmaker. He played baseball. He loved to dance, you know, and he also had the side of him off the stage that didn't define him, but it was a part of him and that's a beautiful thing about him.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yeah, a very, very mixed story.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Now playing a boxer is a significant physical challenge. What did you do to prepare for it?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: A lot. So, you know, when the role was offered to me by Peter Gelb and Terence Blanchard, I made a promise to both of them that not only would I try and present his music in the best way possible on the greatest stage, but also that I would try to get my body in shape to at least show the physicality of a boxer. Obviously I can't be a welterweight because it would be half of me to be a welterweight. But, you know, I thought—you know, I looked at Michael Bentt. I looked at some of the heavyweights of that generation and I tried to aim for their physique. So I lost about 60 pounds since then.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: So the last HD production that the audience saw you in was Ariadne auf Naxos.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: It's safe to say that the music of Terence Blanchard is a bit different than that. What has it been like singing his music for you?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: It's been rewarding because, you know, he has been the first here at the Met in many things, and his music is to me Puccini-like in the way that it's so different. I've been in—I had the pleasure of being in Fire Shut Up In My Bones when it premiered here at the Met.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: The first opera composed by an African-American here at the Met, and now I get to be in his second opera, which he's one of few to have two operas performed at the Met. It's an awesome experience.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Amazing. Now in addition to performing this role, you've been doing photoshoots, making TV commercials, participating in talks all over New York City. Does it feel like it's a major moment for you?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: It definitely feels like it's a—I'm stepping up, and, you know, I've been trained here at the Metropolitan Opera in the Lindemann Young Artist Program, and went to Europe, lived in Vienna and sang with the Wiener Staatsoper for five years, building up to this moment in my life. So I think I'm ready.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Well, congratulations—
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: —to you, Speedo.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Let me make a quick shoutout. So to all of my family and supporters out in the United States from California, North Carolina to Virginia to New York, thank you for your support.
(In German). And to the one and only love of my life, my rock, Irena, you are the Adrian to my Rocky. None of this would be possible without you by my side. I love you, baby.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Wunderbar. Great.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Danke schoen.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Congrats on your success.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Thanks, brother. See you.
INTERVIEW: Brownlee w/ Eric Owens
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Now I get to—get a chance to speak with the older Emile, my good friend of many years, Eric Owens. Eric, I know you just love being called the older Emile, right?
ERIC OWENS: That's—that's totally fine. It's appropriate. I'm a man of a certain age.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Me too. You've sung over 125 performances on the Met stage across a huge range of repertoire. How does singing Terence Blanchard's music feel for you?
ERIC OWENS: It feels—it feels good. It feels very, very good. It's—it's wonderful and we were lucky that we had the composer in the room with us and if something wasn't feeling right, you could go to him and ask him to change it. But luckily I didn't have to change anything. It was—it felt—it fit like a glove.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: That's great to have him—
ERIC OWENS: Yeah. Absolutely.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: —to change whatever you need.
ERIC OWENS: Absolutely. Absolutely.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Now you're giving such a moving portrayal of Emile facing—facing dementia. Talk to me a little bit about the challenges of playing this part. It can't be easy capturing his decline.
ERIC OWENS: Well, it's—it's a—when you're playing someone going through that, there's sort of a certain level of responsibility that you feel that you don’t want to caricaturize it and you don’t want it to make it, you know, overblown. But you want to let it be known that that's what he's going through, especially in the house, you know, telegraphing it out to the audience.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Right.
ERIC OWENS: But, and it's a special thing because, you know, I don’t know of anybody who doesn't know someone who has gone through this, and so it touches the audience in a very special way.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Well, I have to ask you about Yannick. How has he guided you through this jazz-inflected score?
ERIC OWENS: Oh, he's been amazing. He's been amazing. I love working with him all the time. He always brings such an incredible energy into the room. When he's in the pit, you look down there and you can't help feel supported.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: His excitement.
ERIC OWENS: It's very exciting, and he's just one of the nicest people you ever want to work with. Yeah.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Well, I want to congratulate you on a powerful performance, Eric. Fantastic.
ERIC OWENS: Thank you so much, Larry.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Absolutely.
READ: Brownlee Throw to Tape
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Champion marks the third time director James Robinson and choreographer Camille A Brown have worked together at the Met, following momentous success with George—with Porgy and Bess and Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones. They recently spoke about bringing Champion to life on the stage of the Met.
ROLL-IN B: James Robinson & Camille A. Brown
JAMES ROBINSON: In 2009, I had just become artistic director at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and one of my missions was to commission a lot of new operas. And one of the projects that had been talked about was to do some type of collaboration with Jazz St. Louis. So I reached out to my colleague at Jazz St. Louis, and he provided me with a list of names, and the name that really stuck out was Terence Blanchard.
And after about six or seven months, Terence called and said, “I have an idea for an opera.” I said, “Great.” And he said, “I want to write an opera about Emile Griffith.” And it did not take much to convince me that this was going to be a really good subject for Terence’s first opera.
What makes Champion really interesting, but also very challenging from a directorial standpoint, is that we're dealing with multiple decades. We start in the late '50s and we go all the way into the '80s. The music supplies a lot of that information too. So we had to match that with our visuals.
Camille and I talked a great deal about how to use dance as an element throughout the piece, as we go from scene to scene, decade to decade.
CAMILLE A. BROWN: The parade scene that takes place in St. Thomas – it was really important to get a couple of things accomplished. One, the idea of the parade, but then also he's singing about his love for making hats and also playing baseball. So there is a lot of storytelling that has to happen in a short amount of time. And then movement-wise, just more of the Virgin Islands. What does that feel like? Really that vibe of St. Thomas. And so I incorporated a lot of the African diaspora inside of the movement.
And I was really interested and inspired by Montana's costumes. There's one where there's this raffia that if you turn and spin, it really makes this beautiful swirl. So I tried to choreograph with that in mind.
JAMES ROBINSON: My favorite dance moment is a transition that we make out of Howie's Hat Factory in Act I into the boxing training gym, where you see these dancers and these actors going through the motions of a training scene. It's almost like a cinematic montage scene.
CAMILLE A. BROWN: It was an opportunity to get behind the scenes of Emile training and what that looks like – a day in the life of Emile.
JAMES ROBINSON: We created this production pretty much around the idea of a boxing ring. So in many ways, the boxing ring is a central character.
CAMILLE A. BROWN: And I was really excited to work with the actors on their different movements, and I was really inspired by the rhythm that Terence composed. So I wanted to do something that incorporated boxing moves and warmups but had a rhythm to it. So we had pushups in there, we had jabs, so a little bit of everything we tried to get in a count of eight.
JAMES ROBINSON: And we had a boxing consultant, a former heavyweight champion, Michael Bentt who was working with us and consulting with us on the show. And it was really fascinating to see how Michael would work with Camille and her dancers to give them a little more gravitas. We didn't want it to seem as if, okay, here are the guys who look like boxers, here are the dancers that look like dancers. We really wanted everybody to look like they were sharing the same type of physical vocabulary.
CAMILLE A. BROWN: I set the movement and he would come in and give pointers and coach them, so they're really going from a rooted place when you see them do it.
JAMES ROBINSON: The story of Emile Griffith touches on so many different subjects, but in many ways it's about the search for redemption, the search for forgiveness. And I think that is a very theatrical and very resonant story. And certainly it inspired Terence to write some really fantastic music.
READ: Brownlee Neubauer / Toll / Throw to Break
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: James and Camille really have a remarkable collaboration. The Met's Live in HD Series is made possible thanks to its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met Live in HD Series is supported by Rolex. Today's performance of Champion will be heard later this season over the Toll Brothers Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. We'll be back after a short break.
READ: PSA / Fundraising / Throw to Don Giovanni Clip
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Welcome back. It is such a thrill to be your host for a major contemporary work like Champion, especially in this dazzling production and with this remarkable cast, Ryan Speedo Green and Eric Owens, not to mention young Ethan Joseph, who plays Emile as a child. Their performances are electrifying and heartbreaking. But as exciting as they are on the screen, you just don’t get the same lump in your throat or goosebumps on your arm as when you witness their artistry here in the opera house. Nothing compares to live opera. So please come to the Met or visit your local opera company.
The level of talent the Met has assemble for this production of Champion is off the charts. Whether it's Camille A. Brown's astounding choreography, the brilliant costumes of Montana Levi Blanco or the virtuosity of this cast, everyone is at the top of their artistic game. But presenting the work of important composers and showcasing their artistry in spectacular productions like this is very expensive.
Ticket sales cover only a fraction of the cost. So the Met relies on opera lovers like you to help support our work. If you're able to make a donation, please visit metopera.org/membership or call us at 1-800-MET-OPERA. You can also text HDLIVE to 44321 to make a contribution. Thank you for your support.
Now there are two more Live in HD cinema presentations coming up this season, and I'm especially excited about one of them. It's Mozart's Die Zauberflöte seen in a new production by Simon McBurney. I will be singing the role of Tamino opposite soprano Erin Morley as Pamina. We started rehearsals last week, and I promise you, you do not want to miss this show. It's a lively and improvisational approach to Mozart's opera for the people. I hope you'll join us for Die Zauberflöte in movie theaters on June 3rd.
But first, another Mozart favorite is coming to the big screen in a new production. Director Ivo van Hove is making is Met debut with a new staging of Don Giovanni with the great Peter Mattei in the title role and Nathalie Stutzmann on the podium. Soprano Federica Lombardi sings Donna Anna and tenor Ben Bliss is Don Ottavio. Our cameras captured them in rehearsal a few days ago singing their duet, "Fuggi, crudele," "Flee, Cruel One." Here's an excerpt.
INTERVIEW: Brownlee w/ Benjamin Bliss & Federica Lombardi
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Federica Lombardi and Ben Bliss are with me now. Hello
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: Hello.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Both of you.
BENJAMIN BLISS: What's up, Larry. Good to see you, man.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: You sang so beautifully.
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: Thank you.
BENJAMIN BLISS: Thank you.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Now Don Giovanni has been a part of the Met since the company began, and every generation seems to find its own way with it. What makes this production different?
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: So Don Giovanni is a timeless opera and the music is beautiful and amazing and it's the perfect combination between music and the libretto of Da Ponte that makes the opera so special. And actually in this particular—particular production, we are a point of light on the dark side of the opera and the character of Don Giovanni.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yes. Yes.
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: Because it's a dramma gicoso. So maybe we put the attention more on the drama this time, and it's very interesting, very dark and we can find many shades in the opera that are very important to me. Also singing Dona Anna, it's more the dramatic part of the interpretation.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: And what is the thing about this story, Ben, that still resonates today?
BENJAMIN BLISS: I think there's so much humanity, so many different shades of humanity and colors in the libretto and in the music, that there's always something new to find and a new combination. And when you have a human story like that, it just never gets old and there's always something new to find.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Both of you are such accomplished Mozartians. What do you love about singing Mozart, specifically Don Giovanni?
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: For me, Don Giovanni, it's very—it's a very special opera because it has been my very first opera on stage and my very first opera here at the Metropolitan Opera.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Oh, wow.
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: I sang Donna Elvira in 2019 and I feel so lucky to be able to sing Mozart music. I feel very comfortable every time I sing it. So—
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yes.
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: —it's amazing for me.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yes.
BENJAMIN BLISS: I agree. It's just we're so lucky that Mozart happens to suit our voices well. They're such great stories to tell, and to sing it here in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera, dream come true.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Awesome, awesome. Well, thank you, Federica. Thank you, Ben—
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: Thank you.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: —for speaking with me. We're really looking forward to Don Giovanni in movie theaters on May the 20th.
FEDERICA LOMBARDI: Thank you.
BENJAMIN BLISS: Thank you so much.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Looking forward to it.
BENJAMIN BLISS: See you later.
INTERVIEW: Brownlee w/ Yannick Nézet-Séguin
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Now I get a chance to speak with the Met music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Maestro, hello.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: Hello, Larry.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: You look like you're ready to jump in the ring yourself.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: Exactly. Like, you know. That's the Met costume department that did that for me. I mean, aren't they amazing?
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: You look amazing. Really, really, really wonderful.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: Oh, no. No. But they make the costume amazing. Thank you.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Well, Terence has described this as an opera in jazz. What's the relationship between the jazz musicians and the orchestra in the pit?
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: Yeah. It's a fascinating thing because I think some numbers, as people can tell already, I think some numbers are very symphonic or very operatic, like Puccini. Terence loves Puccini. But then there are also some moments that really go into the jazz where the rhythm section is really driving the forces. And especially I think what's brilliant and genius about what he's done is that we're treating the quartet, the jazz quartet, a little bit like the continuo group would do in a Handel or Monteverdi opera or even recitatives in Mozart. So the balance of the two is I think extraordinary.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: And let me ask you, how did you work with the orchestra to bring out some of the jazz elements?
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: I think first we need to have the composer there, and Terence was there every day.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Right.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: So people could go to him, ask questions, change and modify things to know more what's behind this thing. But also it's about being open-minded. I think everyone and these fabulous musicians, they know how to groove. They know how to swing. We just need to have a conductor maybe who allows them to do so—
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: We have one.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: —and dancing myself, you know. So that's what I'm trying to do, and they respond to this so beautifully.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Well, this is a breakout role for Ryan Speedo Green. And it asks so much of him both musically and physically. What has it been like to work with him on this portrayal?
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: I think Speedo is one of the greatest singers of our time.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yeah.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: He is just everything. He's charismatic. He has a fantastic voice. He's so musically intelligent, and he wanted to take this so seriously. You know?
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yes.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: He kept also sending me messages through emails and messages saying, Maestro, tell me everything.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yes.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: It's fascinating and I think this is not only a great portrayal of a great character, of a great opera, but I think we can expect to see much more in the future as a title role.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Now, we heard from Peter Gelb at the start of the show that it's very important for the met to showcase new and recent works. And I think that this is important to you as well. Why is this so important for the Metropolitan Opera?
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: This is the home of the greatest art, the greatest artists and I think that everyone in the audience should recognize themselves with these great artists. And we have a great repertoire. You know, Mozart is great and Verdi is great. But at the end of the day, they're all European white male from a certain era. And I think if we represent issues that are much more diverse and that everyone feels welcome on the stage of the Met but also in the audience of the Met, we are just enriching the art form. And we will still of course have Mozart and have the great artists like you in Mozart. But I think that alternance—yesterday I was conducting Bohème.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yes.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: And, you know, the audience also felt new and revived. So I'm very optimistic for the future.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Well, kudos to you on your performance and all the work you're doing at the Metropolitan Opera. Thank you.
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN: Thank you so much.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
INTERVIEW: Brownlee w/ Latonia Moore & Stephanie Blythe
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: And now the two most outlandish women of Champion, Stephanie Blythe and Latonia Moore. Ladies, my friends.
LATONIA MOORE: Hey, Larry.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Latonia, you are tearing up the stage in your portrayal of Emelda Griffith. It's so funny, but also moving. How do you walk the line between humor and pathos?
LATONIA MOORE: That's a good question. It's very hard with a character like this because I can't say on a personal level it's one that I like so much. But it's one that I relish playing because everybody has that sort of double thing inside of them where they're good and they're bad. So how do I walk the fine line? I think the way is by leaning into the bad a little more than I'm used to so that when you do see something that's internal and just more personal for her, you believe it—
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yeah.
LATONIA MOORE: —because she's so sincere when she's bad. Why wouldn't she be just as sincere when she's telling the truth and she's good?
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Exactly. Stephanie, people will be talking about your Kathy Hagen for years to come. Aside from the foul language, how different is this for you vocally and musically than anything you've ever done on the Met stage?
STEPHANIE BLYTHE: Than anything I've done on the Met stage, it's very different. Than in my regular life, not at all. Foul language is right up my alley. And I'm a cabaret singer and a drag artist on the side. So this is very—this is like coming home to me.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Yes. Well, both of your characters are based on real-life people. Did you do any research to kind of help your interpretation or do you get everything from the score?
LATONIA MOORE: I got a lot of it from the score. But I absolutely did research, looking for any footage I could find of Emelda Griffith, any pictures. And she was indeed over the top. At one point she jumps into the boxing ring with everybody once her son wins. I mean, she's larger than life, and so I was really glad that I had somebody real to draw off of.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Oh, yes.
LATONIA MOORE: And so, you know, this is opera. So I vamped her up like times ten.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Well, like Speedo, you've been involved in a lot of the Met's efforts to reach students and new audiences for Champion. What has that experience been like for you, and do you enjoy it?
LATONIA MOORE: Oh, gosh. I enjoy so much talking to the kids, especially with a show like this because it involves so much personal things, so many struggles and things that people in high school do go through. So they really related to the story more than I thought they ever would, and that was fulfilling.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: And Stephanie, you have a performing life outside of life singing cabaret, as you mentioned, American songbook, even rock. I've seen you online. Has that helped you with this jazz-infused score?
STEPHANIE BLYTHE: Actually I grew up in a jazz household. My father was a jazz musician. So it's—this is—again, it's like coming home. It's a very, very easy place to be.
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: Thank you both. You both are amazing. Thank you for joining me today.
STEPHANIE BLYTHE: Thank you.
LATONIA MOORE: Thank you, Larry.
READ: Throw to Act II
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE: At the end of the previous act, Emile has knocked out his opponent, Benny Paret, sending him into a coma he would not survive. It's a tragedy that will haunt Emile for the rest of his life. Here is the conclusion of Champion.