Michael Abels has scored Jordan Peele's horror movies Get Out, Us and Nope.
first act, there’s a song that, at first, sounds very much like American gospel as the slaves work on various tasks. As the piece proceeds, the words “how long” become looser, starting to sound like “ha la,” which Omar hears as “Allah.”
“Something that's not really even discussed about enslavement was how people didn't speak the language,” Abels said. “And they're not only in a foreign place, but they have no access to even communicate with people. And that mis-hearing that Omar has in the first act is crucial to understanding his journey and his character. So that's one thing like most spirituals: there's a hidden message in them.”As I went into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to watch a dress rehearsal, I was struck by the makeup of the orchestra — almost all white — and the opera’s cast, almost all Black.
“People who don't come to the opera have to understand that there's something where they might be able to see themselves represented, like this opera, for example,” Abels said. “I feel particularly excited when I talk to young people and I say, ‘No, you should come to the opera, I promise you, you will get something out of it.
John Horn, entertainment reporter and host of our weekly podcast Retake, explores whether the stories that Hollywood tells about itself really reflect what's going on?