ROME - Soprano Angel Blue says she won’t perform in an opera in Italy this month because blackface was used in the staging of a different work this summer on the same stage.The U.S.
singer posted a note on her angeljoyblue Instagram page saying she will be bowing out of "La Traviata" at Verona’s Arena this month because the theater recently mounted another Giuseppe Verdi opera, "Aida," that had performers in blackface.She blasted such use of "archaic" theatrical practices as "offensive, humiliating, and outright racist."Angel Blue, however, was still listed Saturday on the Arena’s website as singing the role of Violetta in "La Traviata" on July 22 and 30.The theater said it was hoping that Blue, who is Black, would accept an invitation to meet with Arena officials in a "dialogue" over the issue.
The Arena, in a statement Friday, said it had "no reason nor intent whatsoever to offend and disturb anyone’s sensibility."For decades, U.S.
civil rights organizations for decades have publicly condemned blackface — in which white performers blacken their faces — as dehumanizing Blacks by introducing and reinforcing racial stereotypes.The Arena this summer has mounted performances of "Aida" based on a 2002 staging of the opera classic by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli who died in 2019.