Upcoming Performances
The Central Park Five
Anthony Davis, composer of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Music for this true story adaptation of systemic discrimination. This gripping opera follows the wrongful convictions of five African American and Latino teenagers in the assault of a white female jogger in Central Park.
Despite racial injustice, resilience and redemption emerge as the five men fight for freedom.
May 10-18, 2025
Opera
Detroit Opera…has placed itself at the center of the operatic conversation”
David Allen
The New York Times
Featured Events
Mike Karloff and Dr. Andrew Bishop: A Tribute to Composer Anthony Davis
May 14, 2025 | 7:00PM | Spot Lite Detroit
Mike Karloff is a multi-talented pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and musical director based in Windsor. Andrew Bishop is a versatile saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist, composer, improviser, educator, and scholar comfortable in many musical idioms. Together, they will perform a jazz program in tribute to Composer Anthony Davis of The Central Park Five and X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. This event is FREE and open to the public – no reservation required!
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America, I AM: From Injustice to Redemption
May 15, 2025 6:00PM
America, I AM: From Injustice to Redemption is a dynamic event of spoken work, art, and reflection that brings together Detroit-based exonerees who will share their personal narratives of resilience and transformation. Their stories, marked by trials and triumphs, offer a raw and real look at the intersections of justice, identity, and redemption.
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Detroit Opera Youth Chorus Auditions
May 17 & June 9, 2025
The Detroit Opera Youth Chorus is holding auditions for the 2025-2026 season. Singers ages 8 through seniors in high school are encouraged to audition. DOYC rehearses at the Detroit Opera House on Monday evenings starting in September.
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The Cadillac Café Lounge
Elevate your Detroit Opera experience with exclusive pre-show and intermission lounge access! Pre-show, you’ll enjoy an elegant evening in our Cadillac Café with a welcome drink (beer, wine, or soda), a delectable charcuterie box, table or bar seating, complimentary coat check (in lobby), and access to the Café restroom. At intermission, return to the Café for access to an exclusive cash bar. Cadillac Café lounge access is available for just $40 per person.
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PRE-OPERA TALKS: The Central Park Five
Detroit Opera offers complimentary opera and dance talks one hour prior to each performance. Noted experts provide background and important information on what you will see on stage, enhancing your performance experience! Opera Talks and Dance Talks provide an insightful and entertaining preview of the works performed on stage. Unless otherwise directed, Talks take place…
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PROGRAM: The Central Park Five
Enjoy the performance program from the convenience of your phone! All the information contained in the program book is at your fingertips. Click below for the full experience.
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Art Behind Bars: Reclaiming Voices Through Creativity
What does it mean to make art from inside a prison? To create while confined? To imagine freedom while physically restrained? Babatunde Akinboboye as Matias Reyes in The Central Park Five. (Portland Opera) These are lived realities for thousands of incarcerated people in Michigan who find meaning, expression, and power through creative work. For…
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Detroit’s Wrongfully Convicted and the Fight for Justice
From the assembly lines of the Motor City to the rhythms of Motown and techno, Detroit is a city forged in struggle and creativity. But its history includes people with almost unimaginable survival stories: decades in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. These Detroiters were wrongfully convicted—some as children, others by the manipulation of police…
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The Metro: Pulitzer-winning composer brings ‘The Central Park Five’ to Detroit Opera stage
From our colleagues Tia Graham and Ryan Patrick Hooper at WDET Detroit: Three years ago, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X sold out shows at the Detroit Opera House for the first time in over a decade. Now, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer behind that success is back in Detroit. Anthony Davis returns this…
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