Roland Hayes: The Greatest Opera Singer Who Never Appeared in an Opera
Amro Kasr/ Likeminds | NL
He will become a star but in a world that is still hopelessly divided. Ronald Hayes announces in 1924 that he will travel to Berlin to sing Schubert and Mozart. Born as a grandchild of slaves in the United States, where it is forbidden to teach classical music to black people, he worked on his singing technics in secret for years. Roland Hayes: The Greatest Opera Singer Who Never Appeared in an Opera is a musical tale where actor and theatre-maker Amro Kasr takes you back to the time of social and musical revolution.
”How dare this n**** to stain our concert halls?”
“Why doesn’t he just sing jazz?”
(Headlines in papers from Germany, 1924)
Please note, this performance is in English.
text, play Amro Kasr
directed by Samora Bergtop
light design Erasmus Mackenna