Scott Davenport Richards-David Cote Opera Blind Injustice Makes NYC Premiere via MasterVoices February 3

Scott Davenport Richards-David Cote Opera Blind Injustice Makes NYC Premiere via MasterVoices February 3

Adapted from Mark Godsey’s book exploring the U.S. criminal justice system’s failing of the wrongfully accused, the work performs through February 4.

MasterVoices presents the New York City premiere of Scott Davenport Richards and David Cote’s opera Blind Injustice at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center February 3–4. The work is adapted from the book of the same name by Mark Godsey and casework by the Ohio Innocence Project, exploring the U.S. criminal justice system and how it can fail the wrongfully accused.

The cast includes Phillip Bullock as Derrick Wheatt, Thomas Capobianco as Clarence Elkins, Joshua Dennis as Defense Attorney, Eric Shane Heatley as Rickey Jackson, Briana Hunter as Derrick’s Mother, Marc Kudisch as Earl Mann, Reilly Nelson as Nancy Smith, Victoria Okafor as Alesha, Joseph Parrish as Earl Mann’s Cellmate and Edward Vernon, Christian Pursell as Prosecutor, Orson Van Gay II as Laurese Glover, and Miles Wilson-Toliver as Eugene Johnson.

Performances also feature the MasterVoices choral ensemble, with Tony winner Ted Sperling conducting. Robin Guarino served as director and dramaturg.

This staging follows the work’s world premiere at Cincinnati Opera, and an additional production at PEAK Performances at Montclair State University, the latter of which also featured the MasterVoices chorus.

Both performances feature post-show talkbacks with the artists who made the work and the real-life figures who inspired the story. February 3’s talk will feature Sperling, Guarino, Richards, Cote, Clarence Elkins, Laurese Glover, Rickey Jackson, and Nancy Smith, along with the cast. February 4’s talk will feature Godsey, The Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck, exonoree, actor, and activist Jon-Adrian Velazquez, John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Saul Kassin, and Elkins, Glover, Jackson, and Smith.

Tickets are at MasterVoices.org.