Travel Pick: Opera in United States
Amistad

Anthony Davis: Amistad

Amistad is the true story of a slave ship taken off the coast of Long Island in 1839 by the US Coast Guard. The ensuing story of enslavement, rebellion and the eventual trial (at which former President John Quincy Adams was the defense lawyer) form the context for Anthony Davis's opera in which gods and spirits travel across the ocean from Africa accompanying the captives on their journey to slavery and then to freedom.

Cast:
Cinque: Gregg Baker
John Adams: Stephen Morscheck
Goddess of Waters: Mary Elizabeth Williams
Navigator: Raul Melo
Margru/Voice 5: Janinah Burnette
Antonio: Fikile Mvinjelwa
Lieutenant/Judge: Edward Parks
Abolitionist Tappan: Brian Frutiger
Grabeau/Voice 1: Kevin Maynor
Bahia: Kendall Gladen
Phrenologist/Reporter #1: Dennis Petersen

Festival orchestra
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
Sam Helfrich, director
Sets: Caleb Wertenbaker
Costumes: Kaye Voyce

8 pm

Memminger Auditorium,
56 Beaufain Street
Charleston, SC