Critics want to shutter a new opera about Emmett Till. Here's what its creators say

Critics want to shutter¹ a new opera about Emmett Till. Here's what its creators say

　　Transcript²

　　At a recent rehearsal³ for Emmett Till, A New American Opera, composer Mary D. Watkins demonstrated her melodies with a pianist.

　　The 82-year-old said that working on this project has been cathartic⁴, in a sense. She was born just two years before Till was, and can remember the day she learned the 14-year-old boy from Chicago was beaten beyond recognition, shot to death and dumped in the Tallahatchie River.

　　"My mother woke me up before school and I heard her walking through the house and wailing," Watkins said. "She said 'they killed him, and they killed him because he whistled at a white woman.' I thought about that probably, gee⁵, everyday for a while."

　　She's now the composer for Emmett Till, A New American Opera, which premiered Wednesday night at in New York's Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College. Processing Till's death through music has made something positive out of the PTSD that came after his murder, Watkins said.

　　"I had a lot of anger about it," she said. "I think this is a good way for me to work, to do what I'm doing with this."

　　But concerns about the opera have, in many ways, eclipsed Watkins' sentiments. A Change.org petition with over 12,000 signatures — and counting — called for the opera to never see the light of day.

　　The main point of contention⁶: the opera was conceived and its libretto⁷ was written by Clare Coss, a white woman. It's based on a play she penned, called Emmett, Down In My Heart, back in the early '90s.

　　Sitting in her New York City apartment, recently, the 86-year-old explained why writing this felt important.

　　"I just felt he had been lost to white history," Coss said. "I had this spiritual mandate⁸ because I don't know where else it came from."

　　On top of all the other criticism, the opera includes a fictitious⁹ white woman, a school teacher, who witnesses what happens and doesn't intervene. By the end, though, she's told her students about the atrocity¹⁰. And while Coss says the opera is intended for everyone, she feels the inclusion of that sort of character is important for predominantly white opera-going audiences to see.

　　"A character for the white audience to emulate¹¹, admire, follow, cheer on," Coss says. "I like something somebody said: Black people don't like other people writing their stories. Black people walk a different road. You'll never understand it."

　　Interestingly enough, there's already an Emmett Till opera — one created by a Black opera composer and librettist¹², the late Michael Raphael, back in 2013.

　　Emmett Till: The Opera was performed as recently as November 2020, via Zoom¹³, by the New Jersey¹⁴ Symphony Orchestra; that performance came in response to the murders of Black people caught on video at the hands of white police officers and vigilantes that year.

　　Coss said she was taken aback by the recent scrutiny¹⁵ her opera had received.

　　"In all these years, from when I started the play from the early '90s to last week, nobody ever said a word to me or nobody questioned me," she said.

　　When asked if she thinks the conversation about race has evolved in that span of time, Coss acknowledges that it has, citing the Black Lives Matter movement.

　　"It's a moment where I really understand the anger, the anger, you know, accumulation over hundreds of years," she said. "It's certainly understandable."

　　Garrett McQueen, a classical bassoonist and advocate for Black people in music, finds it curious that no one has challenged the work all these years.

　　"If this is the first time she's hearing critiques, I can't help but to believe that she isn't actually engaging a vast diversity of Black thought and Black individuals," he said.

　　McQueen also belongs to the Black Opera Alliance, which put out a statement on social media saying that, too often, Black people's trauma¹⁶ is rehashed on stage for white people's entertainment.

　　Producers of the opera have emphasized the two premiere performances won't be a full-on production with sets and costumes.

　　McQueen said that doesn't matter. He hasn't seen the opera, but said he hopes the Black people in the production get compensated¹⁷ and that the show doesn't go on.

　　Earlier this month, Till's family renewed their calls for charges against the white woman who accused him. And because of that, McQueen says an opera like this isn't going to fix things.

　　"The solution would be if each of those people who took the time to pay their money and go see that opera went to their racist¹⁸ uncle or children or neighbor and push them to do something; went into their workplace and said 'you need to be donating to anti-racist causes and organizations'," McQueen said. "And this opera at the end of the day isn't in itself a solution or progress."

　　We reached Emmett Till's family and they have no comment for this story.

　　Tickets range from $20 to $1,0000 — a portion is supposed to go to the Emmett Till Legacy¹⁹ Foundation — and organizers say they are selling out. They said they will be open to audience feedback this week.

　　In the leadup to the opera's release, both Mary D. Watkins and Clare Coss have put out statements defending the opera. While Coss emphasized that the silent white character "represents the context of White Supremacy²⁰ in which the world of violence and terror was enabled," Watkins said that it's "disturbing" that critics have not seen or heard the work in question.

　　"Even though there are many artists of color involved in this project, the critics are assuming that we have had no impact on the final shape of the piece and that the playwright²¹ has somehow forced all of us to tell her story," she wrote in the statement. "It is an insult to me as a Black woman and to the company members who are African-American."

　　In the days leading up to the premiere, the producers of the opera and the Black Opera Alliance had a brief email correspondence to express their points of view, and to clarify their thoughts. It seems both parties walked away unchanged.

1 shutter   

n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置

参考例句：

• The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
• The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

4 cathartic   

adj.宣泄情绪的；n.泻剂

参考例句：

• His laughter was cathartic,an animal yelp that brought tears to his eyes.他哈哈大笑以宣泄情绪，声音如野兽般尖厉，眼泪都笑出来了。
• The drug had a cathartic effect.这药有导泻的作用。

5 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

6 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

7 libretto   

n.歌剧剧本，歌曲歌词

参考例句：

• The printed libretto was handsomely got up.这本印刷的歌剧剧本装帧得很美观。
• On the other hand,perhaps there is something to be said for the convenience of downloading a libretto in one's own home rather than looking for it in a library or book store.但是反过来看，或许尤为重要的是如果网

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

10 atrocity   

n.残暴，暴行

参考例句：

• These people are guilty of acts of great atrocity.这些人犯有令人发指的暴行。
• I am shocked by the atrocity of this man's crimes.这个人行凶手段残忍狠毒使我震惊。

11 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

12 librettist   

n.(歌剧、音乐剧等的)歌词作者

参考例句：

• The musician and the librettist were collaborators. 音乐家与剧作者通力合作。
• Italian-born American composer and librettist whose operas include The Medium(1946) and The Consul(1950). 梅诺蒂，吉安卡洛生于1911意大利裔美国作曲家和歌剧词作者，其歌剧作品包括女巫（1946年）及领事（1950年）

13 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

14 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

15 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

16 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

17 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

18 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

19 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

20 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

21 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。