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ARTE NOIR EDITORIAL

SEATTLE OPERA'S JUBILEE: SURVIVAL IN SONG

By Myah Rose Paden


The curtains open on Seattle Opera’s 2024-2025 season with the highly anticipated world premiere of Jubilee – a celebration of the enduring legacy of African American spirituals, the labor to preserve historical Black art forms, and the conservators responsible for that preservation. Jubilee is an operatic adaptation of the 2019 a capella musical of the same name, created and directed by the original playwright Tazewell Thompson, with vocal arrangements by Dianne Adams McDowell. The grand operafication for the upcoming 2024 presentation occurs largely with the addition of orchestration by Michael Ellis Ingram (Staatsoperette Dresden), who worked closely with Thompson and McDowell to reimagine the original musical for an operatic stage. 


Middle-aged Black man with graying hair at temples in a turquoise scarf and flannel shirt poses in front of a vibrant orange wall

Creator and director Tazewell Thompson presents the world premiere of Jubilee at Seattle Opera, October 12–26, 2024. © Jeffrey Henson Scales


"The journey of Jubilee, deeply rooted in themes of survival, endurance, and hope, resonates strongly today as society navigates a liminal period of cultural consciousness—a time suspended between the aftermath of a global pandemic and a rapidly shifting political landscape."


Set in the late 19th century, Jubilee takes place in an America reeling from the aftershocks of the Civil War, when newly emancipated Black communities found themselves in a precarious position – free from enslavement but excluded from most of the country's institutions. Against this backdrop, the Fisk Jubilee Singers form a group of young, emancipated students at the Fisk Free Colored School (later named Fisk University). In an ultimately successful attempt to save the university from economic failure, the students performed arrangements of African American spirituals as they toured along the Underground Railroad and eventually throughout England.


The opera is structured around over 40 spirituals derived from field songs of enslaved Black Americans and follows the Fisk Jubilee Singers from their formation to the end of their lives, as they encounter hard-won triumph in the face of staunch adversity of their violently racist environment. At one pivotal moment, the singers are attacked by a white mob while stranded at a train station. Their undeterred persistence leads the troupe to an invitation to perform for Queen Victoria in London, a performance that elevates their status on a global stage and showcases African American music like never before. The opera concludes with individual postmortem vignettes from the members, whose real lives and legacies remain as fulcrums within the anatomy of Black history and American music culture as a whole. 


sepia-toned image from the 1870s of Black men and women in period garb posing elegantly

Fisk Jubilee Singers, circa 1870s American Missionary Association publisher. © Library of Congress


The journey of Jubilee, deeply rooted in themes of survival, endurance, and hope, resonates strongly today as society navigates a liminal period of cultural consciousness—a time suspended between the aftermath of a global pandemic and a rapidly shifting political landscape. In this moment, when the future feels uncertain and bitter truths of American history are erased from history books, a story like Jubilee hopes to honor the past through remembrance in the present and preservation through art for the future. 


Thompson is keenly aware of how tightly woven the threads of modern American culture are to the story of Jubilee. He says, “Spirituals formed the foundation of gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and even hip-hop…Their fundraising concerts were also directly responsible for the survival of one of America’s earliest Black universities. The Jubilees put their lives on the line quite literally, going without food, freezing in the winter, suffering from illness and violent hostility on a punishing tour schedule—because they knew that education was the path to real power and lasting freedom.” 


The arrival of Jubilee follows the success of Thompson's previous work, Blue, which debuted in 2019 (with a production delayed by the pandemic coming to Seattle Opera in 2022) and quickly gained critical acclaim for its emotional portrayal of a Black family devastated by the police killing of their teenage son. Staged at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, Blue became a timely exploration of systemic racism and police violence. Blue’s unflinching depiction of contemporary racial injustice struck a deep chord with audiences who were living through intense social upheaval. Yet, while Blue was lauded for its emotional depth, drawing massive attention from the opera world and beyond, some critics noted that its sentimentality occasionally overshadowed the complexity of its narrative, raising questions about how effectively it balanced its themes.


Now, with Jubilee, Thompson turns to a historical narrative, a concept welcomed in the operatic canon where many historical retellings from Giulio Cesare to Nixon in China have found success. The juxtaposition for Thompson is obvious: from the immediacy of Blue’s modern tragedy to a broader reflection on the long arc of Black resilience. From an intimate spotlight on how racial injustices through history affect  individual families, to a tale of the Black collective in the wake of that same traumatic history. Jubilee examines how the spirituals performed and popularized by the Fisk Jubilee Singers became foundational to future Black musical innovation (and of American popular music on the whole), transmuting expressions of survival into expressions of jubilance. 


Costume sketches for Jubilee costumes

Renderings of the costumes for Jennie Jackson, Isaac Dickerson, and Minnie Tate in Jubilee at Seattle Opera. © Harry Nadal.


Though the setting is historical, it’s clear the themes of resistance, survival, and racial injustice remain as central to Jubilee as they were to Blue. However, this shift in focus prompts a new question: Will audiences find the same urgency and relevance in the historical narrative of Jubilee as they did in Thompson’s previous work, Blue?


The timing of Jubilee aligns with a period marked by both struggle and opportunity, where milestones like the potential presidency of current Vice President Kamala Harris—becoming America’s first Black, multi-ethnic woman to hold such high office on all three counts—while the ongoing fight against racial violence continues. A new Black Renaissance in the arts has also emerged in response to the stark illumination of racial injustice in 2020 from the brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and more. Across the country, many (though not nearly enough) white-dominated theaters and opera companies have taken on centerstage projects with people of color, particularly Black people. Jubilee fits squarely into the broader movement of Black artists reclaiming space and agency in cultural conversations, much like the Fisk Jubilee Singers did over a century ago.


The transition from a personal, family-centered story like Blue to the ensemble-driven narrative of Jubilee may come with its own challenges. Since Jubilee originated as an a cappella musical and the current operatic form relies heavily on hymn-like spirituals to drive its emotional core, some may wonder if this approach risks downplaying individual character development, subverting the expectations of a typical opera audience used to traditional Euro-Classical opera structure. While Blue delved deeply into the personal struggles of its protagonists, Jubilee frames the collective strength of the Fisk Jubilee Singers as one protagonist. Perhaps, this focus on ensemble will serve to better reflect the broader historical moment the opera depicts, where the shared fight for freedom and recognition was more significant than the personal stories of any one individual.


“I’m proud that this important new work will be the final mainstage production of my tenure at Seattle Opera. And it is only fitting that this story about the Jubilees should find its fullest expression on the opera stage—their championing of spirituals has been carried forward by a long and distinguished line of Black opera singers, including Paul Robeson and Jessye Norman.”


Despite these differences, both operas underscore a central theme in Thompson's work: the enduring power of Black resilience and examples of what can happen when We tell our own stories. Whether through the contemporary tragedy of Blue or the historical triumphs in Jubilee, Thompson continues to explore how Black communities persist through art, music, and collective strength. In Jubilee, the spirituals at its core mirror the journey society is navigating today—a journey that is neither linear nor easy, but filled with moments of joy, sorrow, and hope for the future.


For the 2024 world premiere of Jubilee, the well-established creative team from the 2019 musical production will join forces with Scotland-based American conductor, Kellen Gray, Associate Artist of The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, along with historically-informed costume designs from Harry Nedal (his work inspired by real photos of the Jubilees from the 1800s), set designs from long-time Seattle Opera collaborator, Donald Eastman, and more from the Seattle Opera team. This production also punctuates the tenure of Christina Scheppelmann, General Director of Seattle Opera–her replacement being the Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ James Robinson. On ending her time with Jubilee, Scheppelmann remarks, “I’m proud that this important new work will be the final mainstage production of my tenure at Seattle Opera. And it is only fitting that this story about the Jubilees should find its fullest expression on the opera stage—their championing of spirituals has been carried forward by a long and distinguished line of Black opera singers, including Paul Robeson and Jessye Norman.” She concludes with praise for Thompson on his handiwork of merging well-known and beloved spirituals with an operatic flair.


Newcomer and Seattle Opera’s newest resident artist, Tiffany Townsend, makes her Seattle Opera debut with Jubilee. She had a positive outlook for the progressive future of the company when she spoke to Converge Media saying Seattle Opera is "actually doing the work.” Part of that work, of course, is casting.


The show will also feature Seattle Opera’s second presentation of an all-black cast on the mainstage not long after its first with Thompson’s Blue (2022), which could be indicative of the company’s increased efforts in the last few years to produce more shows created by and centering narratives from people of color. Several cast members will be beloved, familiar faces for fans of opera in the Pacific Northwest with Ibidunni Ojikutu, Martin Bakari, and Darren Drone returning to the Seattle Opera stage.  


You can see Jubilee on opening night, October 12th, or on one of the dates during its run until the 26th at the Seattle Center’s McCaw Hall.


Moody image of opera performers, Black men and women in distinguished period clothing in front of a blue curtain
Seattle Opera Jubilee cast, credit Desat Lores



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Myah Rose Paden (she/they) is a passionate mezzo-soprano and speaker originally from Columbus, GA, now thriving in Seattle, WA where they currently host on Jazz24 (of KNKX). With a master’s degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Myah has graced stages in both mainstage and chamber operas. Their journey led them to Seattle as the inaugural Announcing Fellow for Classical KING FM during the 2022 Seattle Opera Arts Fellowship. Myah’s vibrant presence at Seattle Opera includes several performances with the Seattle Opera Chorus, Opera On Tap, Seattle Opera's Creation Lab, and the upcoming school tour production of Earth to Kenzie. Alongside their musical life, they host events and present pre-show lectures at the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. They also earned recognition as a District Finalist in the 2022-23 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.



 

ARTICLE REFERENCES:

Marks, Debbie Minter. “Review: Jubilee – Tazewell Thompson’s Glorious Tribute to the Fisk Singers.” DC Theatre Scene, 22 May 2019, https://dctheatrescene.com/2019/05/22/review-jubilee-tazewell-thompsons-glorious-tribute-to-the-fisk-singers/.


Seattle Opera. “Jubilee.” Seattle Opera, https://www.seattleopera.org/performances-events/jubilee/.

Where We Converge. “Tiffany Townsend: Bringing the Joy of Jubilee to Seattle Opera.” Where We Converge, https://www.whereweconverge.com/tdwt/v/tiffany-townsend-bringing-the-joy-of-jubilee-to-seattle-opera.

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