Following his star turn last season in the Met premiere of Terence Blanchard鈥檚 Champion, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green returns this month to headline the first revival of Blanchard鈥檚 groundbreaking Fire Shut Up in My Bones (through May 2) followed by performances as Escamillo in 叠颈锄别迟鈥檚 Carmen (through May 25)
Green, who began his Met career in 2011 as a winner of the National Council Auditions and a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, recently spoke with the Met鈥檚 Jay Goodwin about his rise to become one of the company鈥檚 most important singers.
After this month, you鈥檒l have sung 17 different roles at the Met. How did the company become so central to your career?
Ryan Speedo Green: The first opera I ever saw was at the Met, when I was 15 years old, and the Met became my dream. Whether it would be to sing in the chorus or in the smallest role or as a soloist, I just wanted to be a part of this house. Now, it feels like destiny, like the Met found me and shaped my future as a human.
You鈥檝e come a long way from your early days in the young artist program.
From the very beginning of my training in the Lindemann program, I was taught that there鈥檚 no such thing as a small role, especially at the Met. If you prepare even the smallest role with the same energy and respect that you would give the title role, not only will you feel gratified as an artist, but you鈥檒l be noticed for your effort. As I鈥檝e gotten more and more opportunities, putting in the hard work each step of the way has prepared me for the responsibility of roles like Young Emile in Champion last year and Charles in Fire Shut Up in My Bones this season.
This will mark your third time collaborating with Terence Blanchard, after Champion and singing Uncle Paul in the Met premiere of Fire. How does it change your experience to work with a living composer?
In the first run of Fire, I was supposed to sing a minor role, and Arthur Woodley was scheduled to sing Uncle Paul. But Arthur sadly passed away shortly before we started rehearsals, and the Met asked me to take on Uncle Paul. The role as written wasn鈥檛 a perfect fit for my voice, but Terence was absolutely willing and excited to explore ways to make the music and my voice work well together. And I know he was just as helpful molding Charles鈥檚 music to Will Liverman鈥檚 voice, which sits quite high for the role. But it鈥檚 actually a very comfortable ange for me, so even though I know Terence is ready to make any adjustments we might need, he and I have agreed that we鈥檒l start by approaching it come scritto.
Terence is one of the world鈥檚 great jazz composers, and his operas reflect that. Did you have any prior jazz experience?
I never sang jazz or R&B growing up, and I have no background in gospel music either. When I went to church as a child, I was the kid falling asleep in the pew. The first thing I ever sang with effort was opera. I鈥檓 really a one-trick pony, so I approach Champion and Fire with a purely operatic mindset. The stereotypes that follow African Americans in this business upset me because they assume that these other styles are my background, when actually it鈥檚 the opposite. It鈥檚 working with Terence鈥檚 music that has made me discover new things about my voice, not singing Boris Godunov or Carmen.
Charles experiences severe trauma as a child and carries those demons into adulthood. How do you connect with the character?
I can鈥檛 specifically relate to his sexual assault, but just like him, the worst parts of my life were when I was a child. My most traumatic experience came when I was 12 years old and was locked up for a summer in juvenile detention. From that day on, I searched for a way to move forward. In the opera, Charles looks for salvation and self-respect in the toxic masculinity of a fraternity, in a woman鈥檚 arms, at church. But it isn鈥檛 until he confronts himself and faces his trauma that he can see that it wasn鈥檛 his fault, and he can start to move past it. Just like him, it took me a long time to find my own self-worth and to realize that my childhood wasn鈥檛 my fault.
After Fire, you move on to something completely different: the swaggering Escamillo in Carmen.
It鈥檚 my 17th Met role, but it鈥檚 also the opera that started it all. That first performance I saw when I was 15 was Carmen, and now, 22 years later, I鈥檓 finally getting to sing it on the Met stage. It feels like I鈥檓 really coming home.
Ryan Speedo Green and Brittany Renee in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ryan Speedo Green and Ethan Joseph in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Brittany Renee, Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore, and Ethan Joseph in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ryan Speedo Green in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ethan Joseph, Latonia Moore, Brittany Renee, and Ryan Speedo Green in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ryan Speedo Green and Brittany Renee in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ethan Joseph, Latonia Moore, Brittany Renee, and Ryan Speedo Green in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Brittany Renee and Ryan Speedo Green in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ethan Joseph and Ryan Speedo Green in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Brittany Renee, Ethan Joseph, and Ryan Speedo Green in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Latonia Moore in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ryan Speedo Green and Brittany Renee in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ryan Speedo Green and Latonia Moore in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ethan Joseph and Ryan Speedo Green in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Ethan Joseph in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Company of the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Latonia Moore in the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones
