Metropolitan Opera to stop blackface makeup use in production of 'Otello'
August 07, 2015 00:34
The Metropolitan Opera will debut a fresh face in its season-opening production of Verdi's "Otello" in September.
For the first time on the famed New York stage, the actor who portrays the work's titular character will perform without blackface makeup.
It's a break with tradition for the company, which has been staging the production with white actors playing the protagonist in dark makeup for over 100 years.
"The decision to have no makeup at all was made during the process of planning of the production," the company said in a statement. "Although the central character of Otello is a Moor from North Africa, the Met is committed to color-blind casting, which allows the best possible singers to perform any role, regardless of their racial background."
Based on Shakespeare's "Othello," the opera was composed in the late 19th century by Giuseppe Verdi and first performed by the Met in 1891. Though theater productions of Shakespeare's play had since dropped the use of dark makeup to transform an actor into the titular Moor, opera companies have continued its use into the 21st century, including in the Met's latest staging of the work in 2012.
In the spring, a promotional mailer from the company advertising the upcoming production drew small ire for its glossy photo of Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko, who will play Otello, in heavy bronze makeup.
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