THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE—OPERA AND OTHERWISE PART 2

YESTERDAY IN PART 1 WE FOCUSED ON THE HORRIFIC REALITY of the now appropriately named Exonerated Five. Today we turn to the operatic production The Central Park Five, particularly as set by Detroit Opera. We conclude with an oddity of its reporting.

Detroit Opera’s Coming Production, May 10, 16, and 18, 2025. Detroit Theater describes, “Anthony Davis’ poignant Pulitzer Prize winning opera The Central Park Five comes to Detroit courtesy of the Detroit Opera.” What’s anticipated is an operatic mixture of “jazz, gospel, and contemporary classical music.”

Images from Detroit Theater.

An Oddity. On April 28, 2025, The New York Times’ Robin Pogrebin reported, “Detroit Opera Steps Into Trump’s Cross Hairs With ‘Central Park Five.” There’s also a Facebook posting, likewise dated April 28, 2025. 

The posting recounts, “ ‘The Central Park Five,’ a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera about the Black and Latino boys wrongly convicted of raping a Central Park jogger, opens next month at the Detroit Opera House. We spoke with the company, including the tenor who plays Donald Trump, about the perils of mounting a production that waves a red cape at a pumped-up, reactive presidency.” 

An Inconsistent Peril. Curiously, I experienced an inconsistency in access to the Pogrebin article: My initial April 28 download has always been accessible to my iPhone. However, in accessing the article anew on my iMac, I got a momentary look at the image below instantly replaced by “We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please try reloading the page or log-in.” Similarly, any attempt to follow up on the Facebook posting had the same effect.

I’m a subscriber to The New York Times, so it wasn’t an issue of paywall: Reloading or signing-in had no effect. Until a couple of hours later, when inexplicably the link gave me access to the Pogrebin article. But only once. A few minutes later, the retry/log-in reappeared.

Having read the Pogrebin article on my iPhone, I could only guess why it was later scrubbed (and momentarily reappearing). A technical issue of transmission? Some copyright matter in content? A problem with quoted portions? A fear of retaliation??

In any event, the article is now accessible to me a day later (May 1), and hence I conclude here with tidbits gleaned therefrom.

An Operatic Trump. Pogrebin writes, “A rehearsal of “The Central Park Five,” an opera about the Black and Latino boys wrongly convicted of raping a Central Park jogger, was just a few days old this month when the tenor who plays Donald J. Trump began to sing: ‘They are animals! Monsters!…Support our police! Bring back the death penalty!’ he bellowed.”

Certainly no less rhetoric than Trump’s newspaper ads of the era.

Pogrebin continues, “Todd Strange, the tenor who plays Mr. Trump, said in an interview that he could not deny feeling some trepidation at portraying a president who so consistently hits back at his critics. Still, Mr. Strange said, it was important to press forward.”

Todd Strange has played Trump before, as here in the Long Beach Opera production. Image by JJ Geiger for Long Beach Opera via The New York Times.

“The fear can’t shut me down from doing that,” Strange said. “I’m not going to run away from the role.”

The Composer’s View. Pogrebin quotes composer Anthony Davis: “They’re trying to erase history, whether it’s slavery or the civil rights struggle, or the history of racism…. We’re seeing now with deportation the casualties that happen when there is a rush to judgment, when they don’t follow procedure, when they ignore evidence…”

“Many in the cast and crew of the opera, including its composer, Anthony Davis, bottom left, said they feel it is important to present the production at this moment in time.” Image by Brittany Greeson for The New York Times.

“We’re allowed to say what we want, and that’s part of our country. That’s part of who we are,” Davis said.

Precautions. “The company,” Pogrebin recounts, “has put in place additional precautions—beefing up security and preparing audience members for metal detectors at the door. Detroit Opera has also enlisted an employee assistance program for this production in case any of the artists, creative team or staff decide they need additional support.”

Thank You, NEA. “Surprisingly,” Pogrebin says, “the opera is partially financed by the National Endowment for the Arts, with some $40,000 of the production’s $1 million cost coming through a federal grant. It was awarded, and paid, before the agency canceled most of its existing grants at the Trump administration’s direction.” 

Timing. And geography: Were it not half a continent away, I would surely attend Detroit Opera’s The Central Park Five. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025