Seattle makes history with X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X opera

SEATTLE – While the curtain calls for what we’ve come to know as Black History Month, the Seattle Opera is helping usher the European art form into a new age of expression, with a production composed by a Black man, a first in its 61-year history.

It’s called “X The Life and Times of Malcolm X.” It’s the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis, who says it took another Black man’s death to bring his production back to life.

FOX 13’s Sabirah Rayford got a sneak peek of the opera during a dress rehearsal before opening night.

“Let’s peel back the layers–Who is Leah Hawkins as an operatic singer,” Rayford asked. “How would you describe yourself?”

“Oh man, that’s a great question,” Hawkins said. “I was telling someone I feel like I’ve been doing this so long. I feel like I’ve been pursuing a career in singing my entire life. But I’m just now finding who I am as an artist.”

This time, it’s taking center stage as not one, but two, leading characters in “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.” Hawkins is playing both Betty Shabazz, Malcolm’s wife, and Louise Little, Malcolm’s mother.

“The story that’s told is she (Louise) had a mental breakdown, period. She’s crazy—she’s a Black crazy woman. Does that mean something to you that? That is what it could be perceived like,” Rayford asked.

“I suppose that’s what is hard about– it you don’t get to see her full self,” Hawkins said.

But you can’t help but hear the full bellows of the beginning of a complex story— both on stage and off.

“I think the idea we were doing Malcolm X was very controversial,” said Davis, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer behind the music. 

“2024, what does this opera mean to you right now?” Rayford asked.

“It means everything to me because it was my first opera when I wrote it back in the 80’s, it was my introduction to the whole art form,” Davis said.

“Do you feel like the arts and culture society was ready for “X The Life and Times of Malcolm X” at that time?” Rayford asked.

“It was pretty radical at the time,” Davis said. “It was considered a radical step because here we have to remember it was 1986 when it premiered at the New York City Opera and 84, it was a Jesse Jackson presidential campaign and Farrakhan provided the security for Jesse Jackson. It was a very volatile time in terms of race relations.”

The New York Times covered the premiere in September of 1986 – noting that 2,800 people turned out on opening night – many of whom felt “such an opera presented what they called a statement…” An idea echoed in the paper’s official review, which characterized the show as “message theater, and by definition, its message will not appeal to all who hear it.”

After its premiere, support waned. It was more than three decades later that a nationwide thirst for equity awakened.

“We saw an awakening of the art institutions to, particularly, African American culture after George Floyd… with what happened to George Floyd,” Davis said. “That created a new environment.”

Where a primarily Black ensemble could headline an opera across the country.

“When Detroit first mentioned it, Omaha and Seattle were the first to come on board,” he said.

Then the New York Met called.

“Really amazing, really created an X for our time,” Davis said.

As for the Seattle variation, Davis says he had a melting pot of inspiration from Seattle’s own Jimi Hendrix to the melodic complexities of Miles Davis, bending the perception of this typical European art form to tell the story of one of America’s most influential and controversial leaders.

“His father’s murder, his father’s death, his mother being institutionalized,” Davis explained. “His troubled childhood in Lansing then coming to Boston and getting involved in crime and being a hustler and pimp in Boston—then going to prison and converting to the Nation of Islam.”

All of it unraveling under theater lights: even the rise and fall of his relationship with his once-mentor Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam Leader.

“Even though Elijah Muhammad was the leader of the nation, there was always a conflict and jealousy about that too,” Davis explained.

“What do you want your audience to take away from this?” Rayford asked.

“Well, I want them to have an emotional experience. Music is emotional and what I’m trying to create is an empathetic place where you imagine yourself as Malcolm, white or Black, you can identify with this person,” Davis said. “His message is still valid, and it still inspires us now.”

“X The Life and Times of Malcolm X” is in production right now at McCaw Hall, with shows on March 1, 3, 6, and 9th.

Get more information here.