From Page to Stage: A Stunning Reinterpretation of the Life of Malcolm X

By: Mary Donnelly

On the night of Saturday, November 11, when I walked into the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center to see the new production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, I had no expectations. Since I had never seen an opera before, I don’t consider myself to be an expert critic in any way, but even with the little knowledge I have of opera productions I could immediately tell that this show is a stellar production. The actors gave a beautiful performance that truly encapsulated the spirit of Malcolm X and interpreted his life and legacy in a completely new artistic medium. Leah Hawkins, who played both Sister Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's wife, and Louise Little, Malcolm X's mother, in particular gave an especially extraordinary performance that left me thinking about the entire production for days after.

The production used the element of time in an interesting and compelling way, which immediately stood out to me because of my own connection between Malcolm X and time. While recently reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X; As Told to Alex Haley, I was struck by Malcolm X's thoughts on time. In the final chapter, he explains how he believed he was living on borrowed time and that a violent death was in his immediate future. He further discussed the idea of his legacy and his concern that he would be interpreted as "a convenient symbol of 'hatred'" (389). Similar to the structure of the book, the opera spanned the life of Malcolm X in chronological order from Malcolm X's father, Reverend Little's death in 1931 in Lansing, Michigan, to his assassination in the Audubon Ballroom in 1965 in New York City, the very city where this operatic production was being put on. There were moments, however, in parts of the production that were later in Malcolm X's life in which the younger actor for Malcolm X joined the older actor on stage. The younger actor appeared during particularly poignant or transitionary period of his life, such as when Malcolm X was in prison and when he was about to be shot and killed in 1965.

Not only was time used within the portrayal of Malcolm X's life, it was also used to show that the problems facing the country during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s still exist today and that the words of Malcolm X are increasingly relevant. Similar to how Spike Lee's movie adaptation of the book began with the footage of the beating of Rodney King in 1991, just a year before the movie was released, the opera used the set design to broadcast on the stage the names of victims of police brutality spanning across years. This visual evidence of the prevalence of police brutality and violence against Black Americans brought the opera to the present, while still focusing on the historic account of the life of Malcolm X.

For the final vignette of his life, the opera ended with the very last moments of Malcolm X's life as he was shot and killed in the Audubon Ballroom as he was delivering a speech. While the startlingly loud gunshots rang through the opera house and the lights above the actor representing Malcolm X turned a dark red, the actor did not crumple to the ground or attempt to act out the death scene. Ultimately, this proved to me that this production was not looking to dramatize the life of Malcolm X, but to tell his story and give his words another platform which they could be heard, which is increasingly important in the political climate today as violence remains increasingly prevalent. In the epilogue of the autobiography, Alex Haley quotes Malcolm X in a letter saying,"Nothing can be in this book's manuscript that I didn't say, and nothing can be left out that I want in it" (394). It was apparently very vital to Malcolm X that he was not misinterpreted or misunderstood, which he so often was in his life and still is in the way in which people read his words today. While a natural consequence of reinterpreting the words and actions of Malcolm X into a much different medium than a book or even a movie is that it will never be completely and totally faithful, the opera was able to portray twelve significant moments from the life of Malcolm X and as quoted in a review in the playbill entitled "Mothership Connection" by Nicholas Rinehart, the opera encapsulated the idea that "Malcolm's message resonates across time and space" through its Afro-futuristic elements and acknowledgements of the continual anti-Black violence and police brutality that plagues the United States today. The production is only being shown at the Metropolitan Opera until December 2, 2023, and it is a definite must-see for anyone that is able to make it to the opera or stream it through the Met's Live in HD series.