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3 unusual facts about Troubled Island


Troubled Island

Although the leading roles of Dessalines and his wife Azelia were based on black Haitians, the opera company cast white opera stars Robert Weede and Marie Powers, who work dark make-up for the 1949 premiere.

To date, New York City Opera has never revived the work in full; however, a 60th-anniversary concert production of excerpts was presented by the company in March 2009 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

The opera was held at the Paul Robeson Theatre of the South Shore Cultural Center.



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