KENNETH KELLOGG ON CONQUERING HIS FEARS TO PORTRAY EMILE GRIFFITH

February 25, 2016 | Kenneth Kellogg

Kenneth Kellogg portraying Emile Griffith in Champion (© Bill Evans)

Deciding to take a role that on paper (looking at all the high notes, and portraying a gay man) you know will stretch you out of your comfort zone, is scary. But for me, the humanistic element to the story of Emile Griffith, to the music of Terence Blanchard was something I HAD to be a part of.

After opening, three things stick with me:

• One of my favorite Hollywood Actors approached me with heart felt appreciation and congratulations for the performance;
• A gay man comes to me almost in tears and expresses thanks for "giving your spirit from day one of rehearsal to tell a part of our community's story that rarely gets told in opera";
• And the composer tells me the aria was exactly the way he heard it when writing it.

I'm glad I didn't let my FEAR win.