Seattle Opera’s production of “X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X” portrayed the struggle, resilience and persistent independence demonstrated by Malcolm X throughout his life. It is an inspirational story about an incredible leader and activist. This opera made me feel seen as a young Black man and encouraged me to keep learning and growing from the philosophies of Black historical figures like Malcolm X.
The story begins with Malcolm’s life as a child in Omaha, Nebraska. We are told about the terrorization of his community and family by racist white people around them. A massive set piece hangs above the performers and displays projections of Marcus Garvey, newspaper headlines and KKK members. This visual storytelling aid was present throughout the show, and I enjoyed how it gave context to the lyrics, like in this first scene.
Malcolm walks slowly while dancers are hyperactive around him, signifying the disorder in his community. Then, we find out that Malcolm’s dad died — probably killed by white people in the area. While townspeople frantically grieve, Malcolm sits observing them. Eventually, Malcolm’s mom’s mental state declines, and she becomes verbally unresponsive.
Then, my favorite part of the show: young Malcolm’s song to his mother. The townspeople leave Malcolm with his mom, who is unable to care for him. Previously, Malcolm was silent and mostly stationary. This is where we first hear his perspective. Malcolm expresses sadness and anger about his racist environment, his mom being unable to care for him and his dad dying.
Before this point in the opera, I understood the tragedies occurring, but this is where I felt the emotions Malcolm was expressing due to the acting, the simple but effective lighting, the ethereal music and especially the dancers. I am a dancer, so I’m biased, but the dancers were my favorite part of the entire opera. Their choreography intentionally set the mood of every scene they were in. It was like seeing the characters’ feelings through their movement.
Afterward, Malcolm moves to Boston, and the music shifts to jazz. At this point, Malcolm is aged up and we see him as a young adult getting involved in clubs, drugs and crime. He then gets arrested, and we hear his anger toward white people and the racist society he’s in during his interrogation. This is where Act I ends.
At the beginning of the opera, the first thing I noticed was the music, which was incredible. It consistently brought me into the vibe of the scene. This was most apparent in the beginning, when the tense music immediately signaled the stress Malcolm’s community was under, and again in Boston, where jazz music was added. The actors also had amazing vocals and harmonies throughout the show, and the arrangements always matched the emotional tone.
This opening section conveyed the lack of control children, especially Black children, feel we have on our lives. Black children are punished by society for their race. Then they are expected to cope with and rationalize that trauma alone. I related to Malcolm’s anger and confusion while being excluded from important decisions in his life. It was an excellent exposition for the rest of the opera.
The costuming was also great at creating the environment, especially when the setting shifted to Boston, where they wore pimp outfits. I immediately knew what was going on just by looking at the actors. The actors were also amazing at shifting their mannerisms to match the new setting, and the main “pimp” — Street — was very engaging.
While watching this opening act, I also wondered what “character” the dancers were portraying. At first, the dancing was a mix of contemporary and afro dance styles, and I suspected their actions were based on Malcolm’s emotions, as they often followed the pain he was feeling. Then, when the setting shifted to Boston, the dancers embodied the new environment perfectly while dancing to Street‘s words, and their style shifted to more jazz and hip-hop. They also set props, so they seemed to be a storytelling device. However, this curiosity was rarely present after the first act.
Act II of the opera began with Malcolm in jail. It brilliantly showed Malcolm’s resilience through his traumatic past and present and how he found his path forward through Islam. The lighting mimicked Malcolm’s awakening and helped me feel the hope he gained.
Music and visuals ventured away from the more energetic storytelling I gravitated to in the first act and became very operatic. I soon became disinterested as lyrics repeated for minutes at a time and movement was minimal. This made it hard for me to stay focused on information being sung, so as the opera continued, I didn’t understand everything. For context, I am a teenager, and I enjoy seeing things constantly changing and evolving on stage, so maybe I just wasn’t the target audience for this section.
This opera also highlights Malcolm’s persistence in staying honest to himself. We see how strong and independent Malcolm was during his activism, while also feeling the strength and independence of the people around him, especially his wife. Throughout the show, Malcolm was also physically separated a lot from most of the other actors. I wonder how much of this was intentional to mimic real life isolation or if it was only to make him the focal point. I wish Malcolm’s connection to his peers and mentors was emphasized, so that I cared more about how their relationships progressed.
Additionally, while his philosophies of Black nationalism and self-defense were mentioned, it was hard to stay engaged during these parts because visually nothing was changing, and it was all auditory storytelling. It often felt like Malcolm’s actor was speaking into an abyss because people on stage weren’t reacting to him. This made it hard for me to understand the magnitude of his actions, and I cared less as the show progressed. I wish more intentional and engaging blocking choices were used, like having people react more and including dancers to convey Malcolm’s emotions like they did in the first act.
Just to be clear, I value this representation. Black art is always important because it amplifies Black voices, which many people typically ignore, and it shows young Black people (like me) what is possible. I am grateful I got to see this opera and for the Black storytellers creating this representation.
Overall, this opera worked very well as a catalyst for people like me who need to do more research on Malcolm X’s life, as it conveyed valuable information through an elegant medium. The only fear I have is that the many white people who came to see an opera will leave it with no context for how significant the life of Malcolm X was and still is to Black people in America today. n
Micah J. is a 17-year-old Black transmasculine dancer and choreographer born and raised in Seattle. He is also co-host of the “Recess” podcast (produced by Creative Justice and Converge Media) and a chemistry student in college.
This article was written in partnership with Creative Justice.
Read more of the March 27–April 2, 2024 issue.