Opera, Justice, and Nonprofit Support

Last night, my family and I went to see “The Factotum,” a world-premier opera set in and around a Black barbershop on the South Side of Chicago. (It’s actually the second opera we’ve seen this week–Sunday we saw “Hansel and Gretel.”) Inspired by The Barber of Seville, the opera was written by two friends who met at the Governor’s School for the Arts in Virginia. It brings to the stage Black voices, Black writers, Black performers, and a facet of the Black experience. Oh, and also musical styles, including hip-hop, barbershop, R&B, gospel, and jazz, without ever sacrificing operatic technique or style.

The writers and the performers definitely have the chops for this–one of the writers/lead characters has starred in “The Barber of Seville” itself, as well as the recent “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” (which I wish I had seen–I love Terrance Blanchard–but alas). His co-writer has moved to DJing, among other things.

Last night’s performance–a Wednesday night–was nearly full. It was exciting to see the audience it brought in. Old traditional opera-goers, yes, but also younger people, white people and people of color. People delighted in musical styles they hadn’t heard before. They laughed and cheered and even cried.

Opera is not, as far as I know, for-profit anywhere. And this piece–this performance–was underwritten by a number of donors, including cinharitable foundations and individuals.

I’m not going to try to address questions of whether arts organizations should qualify for tax exemption–I’m writing this in the few minutes I have before I have to get my youngest up for school–but last night was, to me, a display of the power of art to inform, to create community, and to uplift. And I’m inclined to think those are all worthy charitable missions.

Samuel D. Brunson