Via: QCityMetro.com
Eric Greene grew up in a Baltimore neighborhood that was so rough it was the subject of an HBO mini-series. Noah Stewart grew up in Harlem.
They weren’t exposed to opera music as youths, yet there they were, onstage performing as Schaunard and Rodolfo in “La Bohème.” Greene and Stewart are main characters in Puccini’s tale of love, lust and jealousy, which plays at the Belk Theater through Jan. 30.
The Opera Carolina production boasts a diverse cast, including two black men as principal characters. Greene, a baritone, sings Schaunard. Stewart, a tenor, sings Rodolfo. It is a role that has been played by Luciano Pavarotti.
Pavarotti.
“There’s not a lot of African Americans on a professional level,” Greene said. “For Noah to be singing Rodolfo is pretty good.”
That’s an understatement, considering that both men were raised in the inner city. Being an opera singer wasn’t on their “when I grow up” list.
Now Greene and Stewart are giving other young black boys a reason to expand their lists, but it hasn’t been easy. It’s still rare to have one black main character in an opera, let alone two, unless the show is “Porgy and Bess.”
“We’re still trying to kick open the doors,” said Stewart.
Judging from the standing ovation and applause they received opening night, they don’t have to kick. They need only sing.
