A "Promise" Worth Keeping
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - whose passionate, powerful and eloquent resonance moved people all over the world - was last heard in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. Decades later, it's there that his voice will soar again.

Dr. John Baur - a University of Memphis professor and composer - has completed a contemporary opera, it has been announced, that will not only explore an intimate and oft unseen side of Dr. King as he struggled through the movement that would claim his life, but celebrate him and tell his compelling story to generations 36 years removed from his death on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel (now the National Civil Rights Museum). The production, believed to be the first of its kind, will be produced by and performed at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre, where it will make its world premier on October 22. Nationally-renowned baritone Nmon Ford will portray Dr. King.

"Dr. King was an amazing man. But he also had great doubts about his abilities ... and he knew he'd eventually be killed. Many people didn't know that he battled depression - even days before being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But, he battled on. The cause came first," said Baur. "I wanted to, with this opera, present him first as a human being. I wanted to show his frailty and his faults as well as his great ability to move the masses - and seeing this more intimate side of him brings a stark realization of just how amazing what he did really was. He moved people. And I think this opera will do the same."

Much like the man he was writing about, however, Baur wasn't sure his race would allow him to realize his dream. "I was worried about how the black community would respond to a white man telling this story," he professed. "It is, after all, an enormously complex one to tell - one which includes powerful visions of the martyred hero of perhaps the most important social revolution of the twentieth century etched into our collective conscience. It was not a topic to be taken lightly or without an immense amount of reflection."

Keeping that in mind, Baur set out seeking counsel, and perhaps, a blessing of sorts. The professor met with former civil rights activist Reverend Billy Kyles, who was just feet from King when James Earl Ray's bullet struck him down, to get a feel for how the African-American community may react. He left convinced that Baur was the right person for the job. "His heart was in the right place, no doubt about it," said Kyles. "Dr. King would have been proud that a white man wanted to tell his story and help keep his dream alive. It tells you that he touched people. That he made a difference. The black community, I believe, would say the same thing." Other African-American leaders, including Benjamin Hooks - former leader of the NAACP, are also on board. "A society that consists of people like John (Baur) is, after all, what Dr. King dreamt of. One that doesn't see color. One whose people want to help heal their communities and their country," said Hooks. "It's a special project, indeed."

The University of Memphis agreed. Once presented to them, the school decided to do whatever necessary to get the production staged. "When 'The Promise' was presented to us, our immediate reaction was 'what can we do to help?" said U of M President Shirley Raines. "The university is very pleased to have been able to help bring this to life. The people at this university and in this city are capable of world-class things. John Baur and 'The Promise' are just more examples of that talent."

Baur says King's powerful words lent themselves easily to melody and on recordings of his speeches, the fallen leader often sounded as though he were singing, with his booming voice hitting notes and keeping time as his passion built - just one reason opera was the perfect vehicle for telling the story. The others? "All of the elements for a great musical drama are there - emotion, personal conflict, intense passion, social issues, tragedy and triumph. And, people may not know this, but Coretta (Scott King, King's widow) was training to be an opera singer when she met and fell in love with Martin. She left that behind to march through life with him. So, this seemed like the appropriate way, and Memphis the appropriate place, to pick his message up and carry it on."

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.baurthepromise.com/.

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