(Credit: Cassandra Kay)

Tamara Wilson will become the first soprano in 106 years to perform at “Aida” in the Arena di Verona without blackface.

The soprano took to Instagram stating that her first performance on July 21 was the first time she had been put in costume and that she had been painted in the traditional makeup that has been used in the production since 1913. The soprano noted that she felt horrible and said it “was wrong.”

As a result, she considered canceling the entire run of performances after the first night. However, she said that after discussing with the company and her management, they came to the conclusion that she will not be using the makeup for her last two performances on July 24 and 28.

“Aida” opened on June 22 with Anna Pirozzi using the makeup and Violeta Urmana as Amneris.

Wilson is the second in a row of Aidas who are slated for the Arena this summer. After Wilson, Maria José Siri, Saioa Hernández, Hui He, and Svetlana Kasyan will sing the title role.

 

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After three and a half hours of trying every conceivable way of uploading the video I made, I’m writing the transcript until I can post it. (My internet here likes to go in and out and it would stall every upload I tried). I’ll try again later but I have to go to the theater now.

A post shared by Tamara Wilson (@tamara_wilson_soprano) on Jul 24, 2019 at 8:52am PDT