X: The Life and
Times of Malcolm X
Composed by Anthony Davis
Libretto by Thulani Davis
The first opera from Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Anthony Davis, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X depicts, in a series of fast-moving vignettes, the galvanic life and career of the controversial African-American activist Malcolm X (1925–1965).
Through a combination of operatic writing and swing, scat, modal jazz, and rap, the opera echoes the “sound” of Malcolm’s era and opens a powerful conversation about the history and living legacy of Malcolm X — in Boston and around the world.
“Riveting and poignant…forceful, resonant”– The Boston Globe
As Told By: History, Race, and Justice on the Opera Stage
In October 2021, Odyssey Opera and Boston Modern Orchestra Project announced As Told By: History, Race, and Justice on the Opera Stage, the most extensive and ambitious presentation of opera by Black composers to ever take place in the US. Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X is the first production in the As Told By series, five operas that depict vital figures of Black liberation across 250 years of history.
Cast and Creative
Davóne Tines
MALCOLM X
Ronnita Miller
ELLA
Whitney Morrison
LOUISE/BETTY
Joshua Conyers
REGINALD
Victor Robertson
ELIJAH-STREET
