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Davóne Tines leads the Philadelphia premiere of The Black Clown, May 14-17 at the Miller Theater

Reported on Thursday, May 14, 2026

Pictured Above: Black Clown. Photo Credit: Maggie Hall.

NEWSROOM POST: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

A music theater work exploring the experiences of Black America set to poetry by Langston Hughes

Philadelphia, PA – Opera Philadelphia’s 2025-2026 Season concludes this month with the company’s return to the Miller Theater for the Philadelphia Premiere of The Black Clown, based on the poetry of Langston Hughes, a defining voice in jazz poetry and a central figure during the Harlem Renaissance, running May 14-17. Co-created by music supervisor and bass-baritone Davóne Tines (performing in the title role), composer Michael Schachter, and director Zack Winokur, this music theater experience fuses vaudeville, gospel, opera, jazz, and spirituals to bring Hughes’ verse to life onstage. Deemed a 2019 NYT “Critics’ Pick,” with former productions praised as “an electrifyingly ambivalent whole” and “exquisitely layered” by The New York Times, The Black Clown animates and colors a Black man’s resilience in the face of oppression.

“You laugh / Because I’m poor and black and funny…” opens the poem and stage production of Hughes’ The Black Clown, unraveling into a reflection of the Black experience in America. Written in 1931, Hughes’ powerfully dramatic monologue is organized into two columns: the ‘mood,’ which highlights musical and emotional cues, and the ‘poem,’ the narrative core of the work. Together, these columns express a strong sense of being “Black in a white world,” with the perspective paralleling Hughes’ personal interpretation and the societal perception projected onto Black individuals.  

Performances are Thursday, May 14, at 7:00 pm; Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16, at 8:00 pm; and Sunday, May 17, at 2:00 pm.  All tickets are Pick Your Price, starting at $11, and are available at operaphila.org or by calling 215.732.8400.

This production contains racial slurs and stylized representations of violence, particularly related to slavery, as well as haze, simulated smoking, and bright flashing lights. Well-prepared teenagers will appreciate the stylized movement, dynamic music, and deep engagement with American history.