It’s wonderful to see local talent make it in the world of theater. In this case opera, and that is what seems to be happening with Manteo native Tshombe Selby as he made his debut as a solo voice at the Met today at the world premier of Terence Blanchard’s Champion.
Admittedly he wasn’t on stage very long, maybe a minute, but within that minute there was Tshombe’s powerful tenor rings out.
But before describing what Tshombe voices, some contest to the play.
The play is the at times heart wrenching story of welterweight champion Emile Griffith who, in 1962 killed Benny Paret in a championship bout before a live TV audience.
It was the third time the two had met, and Tshombe plays Paret’s manager Manuel Alfaro.
Alfaro saw Paret as a money train, and even though he had just come off a very difficult bout he pushed his boxer to take the fight.
That is the role Tshombe plays—Alfaro, ignoring the pleas of his boxer’s wife, telling him that with one more fight they’ll have the money they need.
It was a short but important role and Tshombe played it perfectly, portraying a man who truly cared more about money than he did a human life.
The story the opera tells is one that is extraordinarily sad, a tale of a man who perhaps never did fit in. Growing up in the Virgin Island, he came to New York because, as surprising as it may sound, he wanted to be a hat maker.
But his athletic build drew the attention of the man who would be his trainer Gil Clancy.
The libretto follows the story of Griffith as a young man and boxer and an old man, his memory dimmed by the pummeling he took in the ring but still seeking forgiveness for killing Paret.
He ultimately finds that forgiveness when he meets Paret’s son, a meeting that happened in real life.
We did have to travel to the Met for the world premier; the local theater carried it.
There is always something interesting happening from Corolla to Hatteras Village on the Outer Banks. Be a part of the adventure and be sure to stay in a Brindley Beach Vacations Home.