SEATTLE — A new opera is coming to Seattle’s McCaw Hall this month. The opera focuses on a Black family and their journey as they move forward after their son is killed by a police officer.
The production is called “Blue” and runs from Feb. 26 through March 12.
Members of the cast and the creators want you to know the story won't focus so much on the struggles the family faces but on Black love and community as they find positive ways to heal and move forward.
“It speaks to the immediacy of what we're going through now,” said Kenneth Kellogg, a bass who plays the Father and a police officer in “Blue.”
As Kellogg’s character deals with the pain of loss, he said he can’t help but draw from real emotion when he thinks of his own son.
"I got up to go over to sing my line next to the coffin, and I literally crumbled to the floor in tears,” said Kellogg.
Even though the story is raw and real, Kellogg said the purpose is not to show Black struggle but how a family heals and moves forward, and the power behind a tight community of strong women and fellow officers devoted to doing good.
“It really is about this family and this community dealing with difficulty and trying to overcome tragedy,” said Kellogg.
“Blue does not attempt to answer the longstanding complexities of race and violence that our nation has been grappling with for decades,” said Gordon Hawkins, who plays the Reverend. “Rather, it is an attempt to place us together in the same room of humanity, face to face, so that we may address these issues head-on together.”
“Blue” was named the 2020 winner of the Best Opera by the Music Critics Association of North America. It was created by Tazewell Thompson and composer Jeanine Tesori.