The name Malcolm X has always been met with polarizing opinions, from those who praised him as a revolutionary to those who despised him as an extremist. His tragic assassination nearly 60 years ago is proof of this perspective, leaving him both the martyr and the villain. Yet, it is for this reason that, despite being an extremely relevant cultural icon, Malcolm X has always been severely misunderstood.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, edited by Alex Haley and published only months after his assassination, has helped illuminate this fact, painting a compassionate and honest portrait of X and his many lives. Twenty years later, Anthony, Thulani, and Christopher Davis brought his portrait back to life with the debut of their opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Now, their story, Malcolm’s story, and the story of Black Americans everywhere returns to the stage as the first Black-composed main-stage opera at McCaw Hall Seattle Opera.
Christopher Davis did a good job condensing this story into its essential parts, while librettist Thulani Davis did great work in mining the story for its emotional themes and rhythm. It’s impressive how much this opera has to say with how little room the opera format leaves to say it. There is significantly less text or dialogue than in a normal play or even musical, but that makes everything it does say that much more impactful. It’s apparent that the libretto has weight, yet the story is not bogged down by it; it still flows naturally.
This is certainly due in part to the wonderfully haunting composition by Anthony Davis. He describes his own goals for this composition as conveying “the unsettling reality that we are always on that train that doesn’t stop,” and you experience the theater with this sensation. The music immediately immerses you in the chaos of young Malcolm’s life and the desperate and violent world that he’s born into. The continuous polyrhythms guide the story along to its inevitable and untimely end that we all know to expect. Yet, he also allows the music to invite the audience into Malcolm X’s own world by playing with familiar jazz and blues sounds from the time that help color the various stages of his life. It sets the tone of the play in many ways—which is only possible, of course, due to the astonishing live performances by the orchestra led by conductor Kazem Abdullah, who clearly had so much passion and enthusiasm for this project.
However, the emotional texture of X is most credited to its incredibly talented theatrical cast. The ensemble—Wayne Arthur, Edwin Jhamal Davis, Chantelle Grant, Richard Hodges, Olivia Johnson, Ellaina Lewis, Robert Mack, Ibidunni Ojikutu, Elliot Page, Nathan Rodriguez, and Chase Taylor—immediately amazed me with their opening number and the power with which they delivered it. They maintained this power throughout the whole production, supporting the main cast while still standing in their own right. The same is true of the smaller supporting roles by Chad Demaris and Allison Pohl, who also delivered their acting performances quite well.
Of the larger roles, Ronnita Miller was especially wonderful as Ella. She captured her comforting character in a way that felt very authentic and real, which was only aided by her gorgeous voice, shown again in her role as Queen Mother. Joshua Conyers as Reginald similarly felt very true to character with all the important emotional beats and the voice to back it up. Joshua Stewart as Elijah/Street was absolutely perfect for both roles. His charisma as Street immediately won me over; I found it to be one of the most enjoyable performances of the show. His acting as Elijah Muhammad was somehow even more impressive, capturing both the frailty and influence of the real man. His chemistry with Kenneth Kellogg who played Malcolm was also incredibly impactful in this way.
The same can be said of Leah Hawkins who stole the show as both Louise and Betty. Not only is her voice beautifully powerful, but her acting is incredibly moving. Playing his mother and his wife, her chemistry with both Kellogg and Rex Walker playing young Malcolm, cannot be understated. At one point, she holds Walker to her with a love that could shatter. At another point, the voices of Hawkins and Kellogg blended together in such a gorgeous duet as Malcolm and Betty that my heart almost shattered.
That is to say, both Walker and Kellogg were sensational Malcolms. As soon as Walker walked on stage, he won the hearts of many with his confidence and charm. Though he doesn’t have many lines, he was exactly what was needed from the role, and that didn’t stop him from amazing with his singing, dancing, and acting talent. Kellogg captures a different phase of Malcolm X’s life but with no less charm and charisma than the real man maintained all his life. Kellogg similarly commands the stage, summoning a serious yet pensive quality about him that is well-suited for the role. He carries himself and his voice like X did, seemingly understanding just how much power one voice can have.
However, there are some performers in this production who have no voice at all and still manage to carry the show. The dancers—Corde Young, Jay Staten, Christopher Jackson, and Dorse Brown—were one of my favorite parts about X. They each had so much personality and charisma on their own, while still channeling the haunting, turbulent energy of the story in their work. The masterful craft of Rickey Tripp’s choreography cannot be understated here when there is clearly so much intention behind it. There was a certain buoyancy to the dance performances, which carried the emotional weight of the show and the first act, especially. Like spirits, dressed in all white, Young, Staten, Jackson, and Brown floated across the stage, moving through and around the other characters, and taking pieces of themselves with them.
I loved this costume decision by the costume designer, Dede Ayite, as well. While the men remain in all white, I appreciated that their costumes subtly changed through the different phases of Malcolm’s life—like their cropped blazers in the Boston scene. The “zoot suits” in this scene were also exceptional with their bright colors and attention to detail. Overall, the costumes were plain and simply true to the time period, yet elements like the zoot suits showed the craft that went into them. The same is true of the wig, hair, and makeup design by Ashlee Naegle and Mia Neal. The “conk” wigs were proof of this.
These elements worked well with the overall set design by Clint Ramos. I loved the use of depth in the set: the story opens amidst chaos, a warzone, crumbling bricks, and chairs thrown everywhere. This immediately sets the tone of the production, which I appreciated. There were some decisions that didn’t make sense to me, like the mountainscape background of the smaller stage, yet this didn’t detract from my viewing experience.
In contrast, I thought the use of projections designed by Yee Eun Nam added a lot to the production. The use of lightning alongside the list of murdered Black people was absolutely haunting, as were the credits of X rolling across the stage like Malcolm’s own life flashing before his eyes upon his death. I also appreciated how the screen was sometimes made transparent in order to utilize the projection with the actors, like the appearance of cell bars trapping the men behind them. This was cleverly arranged with help from the lighting design by Alex Jainchill. The lighting design was relatively inconspicuous throughout the whole show until it stuns in the third act as the lights descend on Malcolm.
I think this third act is also where the stellar direction by Robert O’Hara really comes through. The frenetic energy of the first act is exciting and keeps the story moving, but the second act begins to drag a bit. The third act is where the story picks back up and really makes its point. It’s apparent how many 21st-century topics X wants to tackle, which just goes to show how relevant Malcolm X’s story still is. O’hara’s direction builds off of his story and this past in order to demonstrate how the movement to empower Black lives will continue to live on. He asks us to imagine ourselves into the future as a radical reclamation of the liberation for which it stands. In that way, his take on this opera is no less than a call to action—to reclaim our space and wield our voice as a weapon.
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at McCaw Hall 321 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109. Performances 7:30 PM on February 25 and March 1, 3, 6, and 9. Evening performances at 7:30PM, matinees at 2PM. Tickets: https://www.seattleopera.org/tickets/tickets-and-packages/ Info: www: seattleopera.org.