Blanchard's "Champn" -- wh a libretto by Pulzer Prize-wng playwright Michael Cristofer -- is based on the life of former world welterweight and middleweight champn Ee Griffh. Its world premiere at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis on Saturday jt weeks after NBA center Jason Colls beme the first active male pro athlete om one of the four major North Amerin team sports to e out as gay.
Contents:
- MET OPERA TO PRENT TERENCE BLANCHARD’S OPERA ABOUT CLOSETED GAY BOXER 2023
- BOXG TRAGEDY SPIR OPERA ABOUT GAY BOXER
- NEW OPERA TELLS STORY OF GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH
- KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXER
- GAY BOXERS ( BRIEF) AT THE OPERA
- GAY BOXER'S STORY SPIR OPERA OPENG WEEKS AFTER JASON COLLS REVELATN
- THE DECLE OF OPERA QUEENS AND THE RISE OF GAY OPERA
- #FIRSTLOOK: MET OPERA ‘CHAMPN’ CHRONICL GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH – WATCH
- CONTEMPORARY JAZZ OPERA ‘CHAMPN’ CHRONICL GAY BOXER'S PLIGHT
- ALLEN’S SUBSTACKSUBSCRIBESIGN {"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","URL":","MAENTYOFPAGE":","HEADLE":"MIC, EXCEMENT, AND THE GAY BOXER","SCRIPTN":"ONE CHEER FOR \U201CCHAMPN\U201D AT THE METROPOLAN OPERA","IMAGE":[{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":"}],"DATEPUBLISHED":"2023-05-14T17:26:47+00:00","DATEMODIFIED":"2023-05-14T17:26:47+00:00","ISACCSIBLEFORFREE":TE,"THOR":[{"@TYPE":"PERSON","NAME":"ALLEN FRANTZEN","URL":","SCRIPTN":"ALLEN IS A RETIRED PROFSOR AND ACTIVE BOXER, THOR OF MORN MASCULY, A GUI FOR MEN (2016) AND BOXG AND MASCULY: FIGHTG TO FD THE WHOLE MAN (2022). HE HAS PUBLISHED MANY BOOKS ON THE MIDDLE AG.","INTIFIER":"ER:68133497","IMAGE":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","NTENTURL":","THUMBNAILURL":"}}],"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"ALLEN\U2019S SUBSTACK","URL":","SCRIPTN":"BOXG, BOXG BOOKS, AND MASCULY","TERACTNSTATISTIC":{"@TYPE":"INTERACTNCOUNTER","NAME":"SUBSCRIBERS","TERACTNTYPE":","ERINTERACTNCOUNT":100},"INTIFIER":"PUB:1258890","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","NTENTURL":","THUMBNAILURL":"},"IMAGE":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","NTENTURL":","THUMBNAILURL":"}}}SHARE THIS POSTMIC, EXCEMENT, AND THE GAY COPY LKFACEBOOKEMAILNOTOTHERMIC, EXCEMENT, AND THE GAY BOXER
MET OPERA TO PRENT TERENCE BLANCHARD’S OPERA ABOUT CLOSETED GAY BOXER 2023
A new opera productn at the Met explor the life and tragic reer of the gay boxer Ee Griffh, a welterweight champn. * gay boxer opera *
AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA Prizefighter’s Double Life, at Madison Square Garn and at StonewallA new opera productn at the Met explor the life and tragic reer of the gay boxer Ee Griffh, a welterweight champn. Photographs om the personal llectn of Willson Lee Henrson, on the right of the bottom and far right imag, who was iends wh Ee Griffh, Vazquez for The New York TimIn the 1960s, Ee Griffh was a boxg star, known for his speed and punchg power, wh a regular prence at Madison Square neighborhoods near the Garn, he let his other si show, one of flashy outfs and unapologetic swagger, where he equented his favore gay bars and Griffh kept his two worlds separate.
BOXG TRAGEDY SPIR OPERA ABOUT GAY BOXER
"Champn" buts St. Louis and looks at a tragic and ltle-known figure gay sports history. * gay boxer opera *
“He was livg a double life, two liv, night and day, ” said Willson Lee Henrson, a gay rights activist who said he met Mr. Griffh early 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, the famo gay bar Greenwich Village, several months before a police raid touched off the Stonewall Rebelln and the morn gay rights boxer, who died 2013 at 75 om kidney failure and plitns of mentia, was known at the Stonewall for his open shirts and gold chas.
NEW OPERA TELLS STORY OF GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH
The Metropolan Opera will prent s premiere of Terence Blanchard’s first opera, “Champn,” about closeted gay boxer Ee Griffh, April 2023. * gay boxer opera *
Griffh unleashed a fatal barrage of punch the 12th round agast an opponent who had tnted him wh a homophobic slur.
KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXER
* gay boxer opera *
Griffh never shied away om equentg gay clubs. That ma him a source of enarment and pri for the gay muny pecially as police raids, prsure and harassment ntued the late 1960s, said Mr. “He was a pneer gay rights behd the scen but was never acknowledged for , ” Mr.
“He was never given cred by the gay muny or the sports muny, so he missed out on both. “In the ‘60s, beg gay wasn’t the most popular thg, and beg gay boxg culture was like sacrilege, ” said Michael Bentt, 58, a former world heavyweight champn and an actor who was iendly wh Mr. “I mentned that there was this gay boxer who was an outst many muni and was loved other muni, ” said Mr.
GAY BOXERS ( BRIEF) AT THE OPERA
Alex Ross on “opera queens” and the history of gay them opera, as well as the recent proliferatn of gay operas, like “Angels Ameri” and “Pl’s Case.” * gay boxer opera *
Griffh a mockg lisp and lled him “maricón, ” a Spanish anti-gay slur that enraged Mr. ”A boxer wh style and panache‘He went to the nightclubs, drag clubs, gay bars and he took all ’Mr.
GAY BOXER'S STORY SPIR OPERA OPENG WEEKS AFTER JASON COLLS REVELATN
The jazz poser's latt project is an opera based on the life of Ee Griffh, a gay boxer who beme a world champn the 1960s — at a price. * gay boxer opera *
Griffh equented gay bars and clubs midtown like L Jard, the Gild Grape and Better Days. “He went to the nightclubs, drag clubs, gay bars and he took all , ” said Jam Robson, the opera’s director.
Griffh told The Tim “He was a pneer gay rights behd the scen but was never acknowledged for , ” said Mr.
”The beatg and his drkg hastened his cle, leavg the chiseled champ who was once the toast of the gay clubs now livg a cluttered efficiency apartment on Long Island wh his trophi and champnship belts storage bags.
THE DECLE OF OPERA QUEENS AND THE RISE OF GAY OPERA
Terence Blanchard's jazz opera 'Champn,' about openly gay boxer Ee Griffh and his famo fight where he killed homophobic opponent Benny "Kid" Paret, is now playg at The Met. * gay boxer opera *
The Metropolan Opera will prent s premiere of Terence Blanchard’s first opera, “Champn, ” about closeted gay boxer Ee Griffh, April 2023 followg the succs of the poser’s “Fire Shut Up My Bon” on the openg night of this season.
#FIRSTLOOK: MET OPERA ‘CHAMPN’ CHRONICL GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH – WATCH
In “Champn, ” which premiered 2013, Blanchard reunts how an environment of hyper-masculy and homophobia led to that fatal night at Madison Square Garn and how Griffh was hnted by for the rt of his life.
His fal Nelson as an unnamed man a gay bar and Ryan Speedo Green as young Ee Howard / Met OperaWhile Act II foc on Griffh’s twilight years and his stggl wh mentia and juri om a btal attack outsi of a gay bar the 1990s, the openg act foc on the boxer’s early life and his rivalry wh Paret. Usg what he’s learned over a -long pivot to posg operas, after makg a name for himself wh stud albums and 30 years’ worth of film sr for Spike Lee, Blanchard add sectns for the productn’s more-than-40-person chos and two new arias, which are played by a full orchtra and jazz ensemble nducted by Yannick Nézet-Ségu, the Metropolan Opera’s first openly gay mic director. "Champn" tells the story of Ee Griffh, a closeted gay boxer an era when gay people were outsts, who ris om obscury to bee world champn, and one of the great tragedi sports history, kills his homophobic archrival the rg.
Louis, tells the story of Griffh, who was gay but did not e out until 2008. Before that life-changg televised fight, a room full of prs and officials, Paret had mocked Griffh wh a rogatory term for homosexual. Years later, Griffh's sexualy was revealed after he was nearly killed by a gang outsi a gay bar New York.
CONTEMPORARY JAZZ OPERA ‘CHAMPN’ CHRONICL GAY BOXER'S PLIGHT
As a fighter and a gay man. Griffh is a largely unknown figure to most gays and lbians, yet he is an historic athlete who was at the top of his sport when beg out was impossible. Griffh was gay, and at the weigh- before the fight, Paret had tnted him, llg him a “marin, ” a rogatory Spanish term, siar to “faggot.
He was a black man and an unrdog, and then he was hangg out gay bars and gettg beaten up by thugs.
ALLEN’S SUBSTACKSUBSCRIBESIGN {"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","URL":","MAENTYOFPAGE":","HEADLE":"MIC, EXCEMENT, AND THE GAY BOXER","SCRIPTN":"ONE CHEER FOR \U201CCHAMPN\U201D AT THE METROPOLAN OPERA","IMAGE":[{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":"}],"DATEPUBLISHED":"2023-05-14T17:26:47+00:00","DATEMODIFIED":"2023-05-14T17:26:47+00:00","ISACCSIBLEFORFREE":TE,"THOR":[{"@TYPE":"PERSON","NAME":"ALLEN FRANTZEN","URL":","SCRIPTN":"ALLEN IS A RETIRED PROFSOR AND ACTIVE BOXER, THOR OF MORN MASCULY, A GUI FOR MEN (2016) AND BOXG AND MASCULY: FIGHTG TO FD THE WHOLE MAN (2022). HE HAS PUBLISHED MANY BOOKS ON THE MIDDLE AG.","INTIFIER":"ER:68133497","IMAGE":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","NTENTURL":","THUMBNAILURL":"}}],"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"ALLEN\U2019S SUBSTACK","URL":","SCRIPTN":"BOXG, BOXG BOOKS, AND MASCULY","TERACTNSTATISTIC":{"@TYPE":"INTERACTNCOUNTER","NAME":"SUBSCRIBERS","TERACTNTYPE":","ERINTERACTNCOUNT":100},"INTIFIER":"PUB:1258890","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","NTENTURL":","THUMBNAILURL":"},"IMAGE":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","NTENTURL":","THUMBNAILURL":"}}}SHARE THIS POSTMIC, EXCEMENT, AND THE GAY COPY LKFACEBOOKEMAILNOTOTHERMIC, EXCEMENT, AND THE GAY BOXER
”Bentt, the boxer who traed Blanchard, says that Caribbean society is particularly macho and homophobic.
Ultimately, the real-life story of bisexual boxer Ee Griffh and the tragic impact of homophobia on his reer might have greater emotnal impact a Broadway-size theater, but ’s certaly a posive jolt to see a mastage opera foc on a Black immigrant om St. The Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken out agast the recent passage of an humane Ugandan law banng homosexualy. In celebratn of Pri Month, gay ngrsman for California’s 42nd ngrsnal district, Robert Garcia, took to the hoe floor last….