No More Blackface At Met Opera
The Metropolitan Opera has been staging productions of “Otello” for more than a hundred years. The productions, based on Shakespeare’s play, are always much anticipated and this year’s forthcoming show, directed by Bartlett Sher and featuring Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko (pictured), is no different. But there will be one important change; none of the actors will use blackface. In a significant move that underscores a steady cultural shift – and which was apparently carried out in response to an outcry sparked when publicity material was dispatched – the Met has announced that Antonenko, 40, will perform the role without the use of make-up. About time.
