X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X Coming to the Met, Directed by Robert O’Hara

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis’s (The Central Park Five) opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X starts performances on November 3. The biographical opera, which has a libretto by Thulani Davis and story by Christopher Davis, first premiered in 1986.

This new production, staged by Tony-nominated director Robert O’Hara (Slave Play), imagines the legendary civil rights leader as an everyman whose story transcends space and time.

Kazem Abdullah conducts the newly revised score, which features a layered, jazz-inflected setting. Grammy Award–winning baritone Will Liverman stars as Malcolm, alongside soprano Leah Hawkins as his mother Louise and wife Betty, mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis as his sister Ella, bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as his brother Reginald, and tenor Victor Ryan Robertson as Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.

The creative team also includes set designer Clint Ramos (Slave Play), costume designer Dede Ayite (Slave Play), lighting designer Alex Jainchill, projection designer Yee Eun Nam, wig designer Mia Neal (Ain’t No Mo’), and choreographer Rickey Tripp, all making their Met debuts.

The November 18 performance of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X will be broadcast live to movie theaters across the globe as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. In addition, the November 3, 14, and 24 performances will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio and audio from the November 3 and 24 performances will be streamed live on the Met’s website.