The New York Opera Society will pay tribute to the great Paul Robeson on Wednesday night at the World Financial Center
World Financial Center Winter Garden
220 Vesey St.
Wednesday, February 16, free, 7:00
212-417-7050
www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com
www.newyorkoperasociety.com
Describing his first trip to the Soviet Union in 1934, Paul Robeson (1898–1976) noted, “Here I am not a Negro but a human being. Before I came I could hardly believe that such a thing could be. Here, for the first time in my life, I walk in full human dignity.” The Princeton-born Renaissance man was an influential stage and screen actor, bass-baritone singer, civil rights activist, writer, and football star. In honor of Black History Month, the New York Opera Society, led by founder and executive director Jennifer Cho, will perform a musical tribute to Robeson, the son of slaves who went on to appear in such films as The Emperor Jones (Dudley Murphy, 1933), Show Boat (James Whale, 1936), and King Solomon’s Mines (Robert Stevenson, 1937) and played Othello on Broadway opposite Uta Hagen and José Ferrer. The free event, taking place in the World Financial Center Winter Garden, will feature performances of such Robeson classics as “Ol’ Man River,” “Song of the Volga Boatmen,” “All Through the Night,” and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” among other spirituals and songs of freedom.