The Metropolitan Opera: Champion backdrop

The Metropolitan Opera: Champion 2023 Directed by James Robinson , Gary Halvorson

Six-time Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his first opera to the Met after his Fire Shut Up in My Bones triumphantly premiered with the company to universal acclaim in 2021. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is the young boxer Emile Griffith, who rises from obscurity to become a world champion, and bass-baritone Eric Owens portrays Griffith’s older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore is Emelda Griffith, the boxer’s estranged mother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is the bar owner Kathy Hagan. Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for Blanchard’s second Met premiere, also reuniting the director-and-choreographer team of James Robinson and Camille A. Brown.

Country USA
Language English
Spoken Language English
Release Date 29 April 2023
175 mins
Cast
Eric Owens Emile Griffith
Latonia Moore Emelda Griffith
Eric Greene Benny "Kid" Paret / Benny Paret, jr.
Paul Groves Howie Albert
Lee Wilkof Ring Announcer
Stephanie Blythe Kathy Hagen
Edward Nelson Man in Bar
Krysty Swann Cousin Blanche
Ethan Joseph Little Emile
Helena Brown Lucia Paret
Tshombe Selby Mano Alfano
Brittany Renee Sadie Donastorg Griffith