By Lino García
Sports stories have provided rich material for movies, documentaries, and have been dramatized perhaps to a lesser extent in theatrical plays. They convey intense, sometimes historical moments, the human drama of athletes, and at times as the long-running show Wide World of Sports would recite in its opening sequence, ‘the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat’.
From emotional and Academy Award nominated Field of Dreams, inspirational true stories such as Remember the Tians, to comedies loosely based on true events such as A League of their Own and Cool Runnings, sports movies entertain, motivate, and educate, while often providing life lessons.
Documentaries have covered everything from baseball, football, soccer, and basketball, to weightlifting and extreme mountain climbing.
Sports plays, several attaining critical acclaim including Damn Yankees, The Great White Hope, and ‘That Championship Season’ all winners of the Tony Award, and others, have been entertaining audiences on and off-Broadway for decades.
So as a life-long boxing fan, when I heard about another artform less often connected to sports – Opera, chronicling the tragic real-life events of the 1962 Emile Griffith – Benny Paret fight, I was wanted to know more. Never mind that it has been touring since 2013, I didn’t know about it until I saw promotions for its current run through May 13th at The Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
The Opera Champion, centers on the tragic outcome of the third fight in the trilogy between Emile Griffith and Bernardo ‘Benny the Kid’ Paret. Appropriately being showcased at one of the premiere opera houses in the world, it has been garnering critical acclaim and attention from opera enthusiasts worldwide. This contemporary opera, composed by the renowned jazz trumpeter and film composer Terence Blanchard, is based on the true story, and features a libretto by Michael Cristofer.
Champion is not your typical opera. It blends elements of jazz, blues, and contemporary music with traditional operatic techniques, making it a unique and innovative experience. It is both poetic and powerful, capturing the essence of Griffith’s story with emotional depth and nuance.
The production is also visually stunning. The sets and costumes capture the mood and atmosphere of the 1960s, with vivid colors and retro designs. Except for the bottle of Tito’s Vodka (not commercially available until 1997) which I spotted on the bar shelf in one of the sets (a detail I know), the authenticity and feel of the times was there.
The story follows the life of Emile Griffith, a three-weight division world boxing champion in the 1960s and 70s, who struggled with his sexuality and identity. Griffith’s story is one of triumph, tragedy, and ultimately, redemption. The opera premiered in 2013 at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and since then, has been performed in various venues across the United States. The current production at the Met is directed by James Robinson. The production features Eric Owens who makes the audience feel his guilt and pain as an aged Emile Griffith, Ryan Speedo Green as Griffith the fighter in his prime, Latonia Moore as his mother Emelda Griffith, and Eric Greene, as Benny Paret.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
On March 24, 1962, Emile Griffith and Benny Paret stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden in New York City for what was supposed to be a highly anticipated boxing match. The two fighters had met twice before, with Griffith winning the first encounter, and Paret winning the other. This match however, would be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Leading up to the fight, there was tension between the two fighters. In a pre-fight interview, Paret who was Cuban, had taunted Griffith, calling him “maricon,” a derogatory Spanish term for a homosexual. Griffith, who was known to be bisexual, was incensed by the remark, and it fueled his anger going into the fight.
The match itself was a brutal affair, with both fighters delivering punishing blows to each other. In the 12th round, Griffith unleashed a barrage of punches that left Paret slumped against the ropes, defenseless. Referee Ruby Goldstein failed to intervene quickly enough, and Griffith continued to rain down blows on Paret, delivering at least 17 unanswered punches.
The audience which had been cheering wildly just moments before, began to grow silent as Paret remained slumped against the ropes, his arms and legs twitching. Eventually he was carried out of the ring on a stretcher, unconscious and already near death.
A documentary by Dan Klores Ring of Fire, recounts the story, interviewing several people connected to the events of that fateful night, and a play Man in the Ring, also dramatized the tragedy on-stage. The renown and controversial novelist, and playwright, Norman Mailer, penned an essay titled ‘The Death of Benny Paret’ in which he chronicles the brutality of the fight. In one extract he writes “Griffith was in like a cat ready to rip the life out…right hand ripping like a piston rod which has broken through the crankcase, or like a bat demolishing a pumpkin”.
Paret was rushed to the hospital where he remained in a coma for 10 days before passing away. The tragedy shocked the world of boxing, and Griffith was left devasted by what had happened. In interviews, he expressed remorse for his actions, saying he never meant to kill Paret and that he would be haunted by the incident for the rest of his life.
It is that overwhelming, unshakable guilt that provides the central theme for the second half of the opera, as an aged and mentally declining Griffith, calls out Benny! Benny! and sings ‘I killed a man!’ in bass-baritone with a mea culpa that he can never separate himself from. Even after a well-documented real-life moment when he finally meets Paret’s son Benny Paret Jr., who gives him the pardon and forgiveness he yearned for all his life, the weight of his actions that fateful night in March of 1962, remained with Emile Griffith until his death, the very same year that Champion made its debut.