Champion Tickets

A groundbreaking opera in jazz

Grammy Award-winner Terence Blanchard’s electrifying Champion arrives in New York this year, bringing the shocking story of boxer Emile Griffith to the stage in an innovative opera that combines classical and jazz.

World title-holder Griffith was a hatmaker turned boxer whose later years were haunted by the death of his homophobic opponent Benny Paret in 1962. One of boxing’s greatest tragedies unfolds dramatically on stage with music by Blanchard - widely known as a long-time collaborator of Spike Lee’s - and libretto by Michael Cristofer.

Blanchard’s Champion opera arrives in New York almost ten years after its US premiere, and following the huge success of his second opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones. It is directed by James Robinson and features swift-footed choreography by Camille A. Brown. Robinson and Brown previously collaborated on Fire and Porgy and Bess for the Met Opera.

The cast of Champion at the Metropolitan Opera House includes bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as young boxer Emile Griffith and bass-baritone Eric Owens as the older Emile, who is haunted by past events.

This groundbreaking show defies categorization and brings new energy to the Met Opera House. Book Champion opera tickets to see its New York premiere this year.