PREMIERE: Black Flute

Bring a picnic, a blanket, or a chair, and join IN Series for the FREE public premiere of BLACK FLUTE at the Sylvan Theater on the grounds of the Washington Monument on the National Mall. Parking is available at the Tidal Basin lot, 9810 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20024. Reserve your FREE tickets on Eventbrite.

BLACK FLUTE reimagines the quintessential in opera. Mozart’s magical and transformational MAGIC FLUTE comes to life filmed in Washington DC’s iconic neighborhoods. A luminous version by local playwright Sybil Williams and librettist Jarrod Lee* puts new words to unforgettable music crying out that black life matters and exploring what it is to be young, black, and gifted in opera today.

KenYatta Rogers directs a young national cast including artists in the Cardwell Dawson Fellowship:

Carl DuPont* as Papageno

Edward Graves as Tamino

Elise Christina Jenkins* as Papagena/Third lady

William Powell III as Sarastro

Melissa Wimbish* as Pamina/Second Lady

and Kristin Renee Young as Queen of the Night/First Lady

Music Direction by Dr. Elizabeth Hill

Jarrod Lee*, English Libretto

Sybill Roberts, playwright

Directed by KenYatta Rogers, assisted by Michelle Proctor Rogers

Safiya Muthaliff, Stage Manager

Videography by DMV Productions

*Cardwell Dawson Fellow