Opera about Malcolm X coming to Omaha 36 years after premiere
The opera “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” officially premiered with the New York City Opera in 1986 to large crowds and critical acclaim.
“It was a tremendous success,” its author, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis, said in a recent interview. “There were lines around the block and it was sold out for all performances. It ended up being the most popular opera ever done by that company.”
Davis said he wrote the jazz opera in part because the iconic Omaha-born civil rights activist is a hero in the Black community and his life tells a “riveting” story of transformation.