Chicago Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Blackhawks now at least have two goaltenders signed for 2022-23.

Jaxson Stauber, a 22-year-old undrafted free agent out of Providence, inked a two-year entry-level contract Wednesday with the Hawks. It’ll kick in next season, run through 2024 and carry a $883,750 salary cap hit.

Stauber joins fellow 22-year-old prospect Arvid Soderblom as the two signed goalies, with Kevin Lankinen — who started Wednesday against the Ducks — and Collin Delia still pending unrestricted free agents. Stauber’s addition hardly alters the uncertainty of the goalie plan at the NHL level, but he does flesh out the organizational depth slightly.

“Restocking our prospect pool continues to be a priority for me, and agreeing to terms with Jaxson is a great step in making sure there is no drop-off in our goaltender development,” general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement.

Stauber went 11-7-5 with a .916 save percentage last season for Providence and improved to 21-14-2 with a .921 save percentage this season. Scouting reports describe him as a 6-3 goalie who is athletic and quick but needs some refining.

“Building off a sophomore season in which he was named one of college hockey’s best goalies, the sustained success he displayed during his junior year was notable, as we believe that will continue with our coaching,” Davidson added.

Four recalls

With the trade deadline passed, the Blackhawks — and every other team — are now limited to just four more AHL call-ups the rest of the season.

There are exceptions for emergency situations due to injury, where they wouldn’t be able to field a full lineup without a recall, but that’s the basic rule. That’s why there won’t be a constant stream of prospects cycling through Chicago over the next month even as the Hawks explicitly begin rebuilding.

Plus, the Hawks want to keep Rockford’s current lineup as intact as possible for their own playoff push, which will give prospects the experience of playing in high-stakes games.

When it comes to top prospect Lukas Reichel, however, it does sound like he’ll spend some more time in Chicago before season’s end. If he plays five more games (on top of the five he has already played), it’ll burn the first year of his entry-level contract, but Davidson said Monday that factor “doesn’t really come into the equation.”

“He has been playing well down in Rockford, just continuing that development process,” Davidson said. “More exposure to the NHL, more games, is really beneficial for him. We’ll look to get him up here again at some point. When that is, I’m not totally clear on. But we’ll definitely consider it.”

Read More

Rangers 14, Sox 5

Rough first outing for Craig Kimbrel

Craig Kimbrel, the $16 million reliever whom the Sox might want to trade, struck out the first batter he faced, then struggled with command and allowed two walks and two hits in his first game.

Kimbrel failed to finish the inning with his pitch count climbing and was charged with five runs but downplayed the results.

“I was working on direction, staying on my line, getting down the mound, trying to stay in my pitches,” Kimbrel said. “I did that for a couple of batters, and didn’t for a couple of other ones. Overall coming out of the outing, I feel good, I feel strong, just going to work off of it and go into the next one.”

Kimbrel’s velocity topped out at 94 mph, which he said “was good for me” at this point of spring training. He was at 90-91 in live batting practice and isn’t airing it out just yet.

“I’m just getting ready, getting the mind ready, the body ready and getting ready to out there and do it again,” he said.

Romy, oh my

Romy Gonzalez, vying for a roster spot as a utility man, launched a long homer to center against Dennis Santana in a four-run first. Eloy Jimenez doubled in two runs and Yoelqui Cespedes (.357) doubled home Jimenez in a four-run first.

Lopez vs. Rodon

Last spring, Carlos Rodon beat out Reynaldo Lopez for the fifth starter spot in camp. On Thursday, they start for opposing teams when the Sox host the Giants.

“Oh wow,” Lopez said before finding out Rodon, who signed a two-year, $44 million deal with the Giants, would face his former team. “Hopefully I can pitch against him. He was a good teammate, a good person. Great guy.”

On deck

Giants at Sox, 3:05 p.m., Glendale, Rodon vs. Lopez. Aaron Bummer, Jose Ruiz, Ryan Burr are also slated to pitch.

Read More

MESA, Ariz. – The Cubs finally know how many roster spots they can count on to open the season.

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed to give teams two extra roster spots and remove the 13-pitcher limit for the month of April. The agreement is reportedly pending the approval of the club owners and comes amid injury concerns due to the condensed spring training schedule.

“It’s going to be nice for us,” Cubs manager David Ross said Wednesday. “I think it was a smart move in this unique string training.”

Ross confirmed that the Cubs’ two extra spots would likely go to pitchers, adding, “but it’s not just how things will shake out performance-wise, there’s big-picture stuff that we look at as well.”

For the Cubs, who have added nine free agent pitchers to big-league camp since the lockout ended two weeks ago, the expansion of rosters to 28 players to begin the season is especially welcome news.

The new faces keep rolling in. The club made reliever Mychal Givens’ signing (one-year contract with a mutual 2023 option) official on Wednesday, designating infielder Sergio Alcantara for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

“Luckily, we’re bringing in some really good veteran guys that know themselves,” Cubs pitching coach said in a conversation with the Sun-Times, “so, we trust them to that extent.”

Late next week the Cubs will have a better sense of how built up their pitchers will be for opening day. That information will help them decide how many multi-inning relievers they’ll carry, versus one-inning arms.

No matter the balance, the new roster flexibility takes some pressure off starters like Wade Miley to rush the ramp-up process. Miley, on a “veteran program,” was hesitant to start building up too early with the beginning of spring training in question.

“I should already have faced hitters, and I haven’t,” he said earlier this week. “So, that’s going to be a whole different kind of soreness when you ramp up and get into that. But hopefully I can do that here in the next week.”

There are ways to give Miley extra time. The Cubs have an off day between their first and second series of the season, which gives them the option to have Miley stay in Arizona for an extra start and then make his 2022 debut in Pittsburgh at the back end of the rotation.

The Cubs also have the multi-inning pitcher depth to piggyback starts at the beginning of the year.

“There can easily be some ways to use the first two weeks of the season as a competitive window, but also a window to continue to ramp guys up, and pitch counts, and things like that,” Hottovy said. “So [roster expansion] really does change the whole landscape of how you view opening day, for sure, and what you want to do with the roster.”

The Cubs’ top two pitchers are on pace to build up to five innings by the end of spring training. Kyle Hendricks threw about 40 pitches against the Mariners on Tuesday and then threw more in the bullpen to get his total up to 50.

Right-hander Marcus Stroman threw close to 50 pitches in two-plus innings against the A’s on Wednesday. And getting up for three innings was an important part of his progression.

“The second I feel that Wrigley crowd, April 8, man, it’s going to be on,” he said.

Ross hasn’t announced his opening day (April 7) starter, and Stroman wasn’t breaking the news. He added that Hendricks should get the ball on opening day for the rest of his Cubs career.

“Hendricks is the guy,” Stroman said. “He’s been doing this for a long time. I’ll pitch Day 5 – I really don’t care when I pitch. … I’ve never been prideful on that. I truly believe Hendricks should be the opening day [starter] just because of his career, how unbelievable he’s been in the playoffs, his resume speaks for itself.”

Read More

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Tony La Russa said he has two choices for his Opening Day starter, and he can’t go wrong with either one.

Lucas Giolito has started the last two openers for the White Sox and Lance Lynn had the better year in 2021, also starting Game 1 of the ALDS.

“The criteria is you want to win the first game,” La Russa said. “Throw your best pitcher.”

“Is there amount of fairness, I don’t know. Just put it all together. The most important thing is that it could be either one, they’re pulling for each other and whoever gets it is ready to go and the other guy is [next].”

A day after Giolito threw three scoreless innings against the Brewers, Lynn gave up back to back homers to Corey Seager and Mitch Garver in a four-run first and, approaching 60 pitches, didn’t finish his three innings.

He gave up five hits, including another homer to Garver, and walked none. He struck out four.

As veterans usually do, Lynn downplayed the results of a first spring outing.

“A couple mistakes,” he said. “Pitches I have been working on were there for the most part. Stuff was there so I can’t complain.”

Giolito and Dallas Keuchel both said Lynn is worthy of starting the opener in Detroit April 8 based on his performance last season, when he went 11-6 with a 2.69 ERA and was third in AL Cy Young voting.

“When you have multiple guys who have the ability to do that, that’s awesome,” Lynn said. “We have a deep staff. Whoever [La Russa] picks will be ready for it but it’s still March. We’ll worry about that in April.”

Rules rule

La Russa likes the ghost runner rule because it adds an element of “sudden death” and limits taxing bullpens.

“I think it’s a keeper,” he said. “It protects the organization’s arms. And you get to the 13th, 14th inning, who’s watching the game.”

Same with 28-man rosters till May 1. He said he hopes teams won’t be limited to 14 pitchers.

“Sometimes you may need 15,” he said.

Cease, Kopech, 19 others agree to contracts

Nineteen pre-arbitration players, including Dylan Cease ($750,000) and Michael Kopech ($730,000), agreed to terms on 2022 contracts. Also: Pitchers Garrett Crochet, Matt Foster, Ryan Burr, Jimmy Lambert, Jose Ruiz, Jason Bilous, Jimmy Lambert, Jose Ruiz, Anderson Severino, Bennett Sousa and Jonathan Stiever, catchers Zack Collins, Yermin Mercedes and Seby Zavala; infielders Jake Burger, Romy Gonzalez, Danny Mendick and Gavin Sheets; outfielders Andrew Vaughn, Micker Adolfo and Blake Rutherford.

Outfielder Adam Engel ($2 million) and right-hander Reynaldo Lopez ($2.625 million) agreed to one-year contracts to avoid arbitration. Lucas Giolito is the only player on the 40-man roster who has not agreed to terms.

Read More

Monitoring new Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ moves:

March 23

4 p.m.: The Bears are signing former Vikings offensive lineman Dakota Dozier to a one-year contract. He started 16 games in 2020 and has 27 starts over seven seasons. The first four came with the Jets.

9 a.m.: Former Bears safety Deon Bush issigning with the Chiefs.

March 20

5:45 p.m.: The Bears have agreed to a one-year deal with former Titans fullback Khari Blasingame, a source said. The fullback led the way for Derrick Henry and totaled 10 catches for 97 yards and three rushes for six yards over 32 games in Nashville. He went to college in the same city, at Vanderbilt. It’s unclear what role a fullback will play in Luke Getsy’s offense, but Blasingame will have a chance to make an impact.

9 a.m.: Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson is re-signing with the Bears on a one-year contract, a source confirmed. Long a special teams stalwart, Houston contributed on defense last year, intercepting one pass, recovering two fumbles and starting the first three games of his career. A sixth-round draft pick in 2016, Houston-Carson has spent his entire career with the Bears.

March 18

3 p.m.: The Bears are signing former Colts defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad. The run-stuffer also had six sacks last year.

11 a.m.: The Bears rescinded their offer to defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobiafter he failed a physical Thursday and quickly moved on to contingencies.

March 17

7:30 p.m.: The Bears are signing former Chiefs receiver Byron Pringle to a one-year deal, a source confirmed. An undrafted free agent out of Kansas State, Pringle caught 42 passes for 568 yards and five touchdowns last year. New Bears general manager Ryan Poles saw it first-hand as a member of the Chiefs front office.

5:20 p.m.: The Bears are signing former Packers receiver Equanimeous St. Brown to a one-year deal, a source confirmed. He played about 26 percent of the Packers’ downs on both offense and special teams last season.

5 p.m.: Running back Damien Williams signed a one-year deal with the Falcons, a source confirmed. Williams had 40 carries for 164 yards, 16 catches for 103 yards and three touchdowns in his lone season with the Bears.

3 p.m.: The Raiders signed offensive lineman Alex Bars, who spent the last three years with the Bears.

2:45 p.m.: Receiver Allen Robinson agreed to join the defending Super Bowl champion Rams and star quarterback Matthew Stafford on a three-year deal worth $46.5 million, with $30.7 million fully guaranteed, a source confirmed. The move ends his four-year Bears career and gives Robinson a long-needed quarterback upgrade.

9 a.m.: Punter Pat O’Donnell, the longest-tenured Bears player, is signing with the Packers, a source confirmed. O’Donnell was drafted by Phil Emery in 2014 and had played with the Bears ever since, working under two GMs and three coaches — not counting Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles.

March 16

3:15 p.m.: As expected, the Bears cut veteran linebacker Danny Trevathan. Trevathan was part of the Bears’ defensive rebuilding job when arriving in Chicago in 2016 but struggled the past two seasons. Last year, he played in only five games before being put on IR for the second time.

3 p.m.: When the NFL’s league year began, four Bears became free agents: tight end J.P. Holtz, guard Alex Bars, running back Ryan Nall and safety Teez Tabor.

9 a.m.: Former Bears cornerback Artie Burns is signing a one-year deal with the Seahawks, a source confirmed. He’ll join former Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai there.

7:15 a.m.: Bilal Nichols, a Bears’ fifth-round pick four years ago, cashed in Wednesday when he agreed to sign a two-year, $11 million deal with the Raiders that featured $9 million guaranteed. Nichols had totaled eight sacks and 22 quarterback hits over the past two years combined. Last season, Nichols recovered two fumbles.

March 15

11:30 p.m.: Bears Pro Bowl return man Jakeem Grant is leaving to sign a three-year, $18 million deal with the Browns

10:30 p.m.: The Bears agreed to terms on a one-year deal with former Raiders linebacker Nicholas Morrow that can be worth up to $5 million, a source told the Sun-Times. Morrow started 11 games in 2020 but spent last year on injured reserve after hurting his ankle during the preseason.

10:30 p.m.: The Bears are signing former Packers interior offensive lineman Lucas Patrick to a two-year, $8 million deal with $4 million guaranteed, a source confirmed to the Sun-Times. Patrick can play either guard or center for a team that lost James Daniels to the Steelers earlier in the day.

10 p.m.: The Bears are re-signing long snapper Patrick Scales to a one-year contract, sources told the Sun-Tines.

10:30 a.m.: Former Bears offensive lineman James Daniels is leaving for the Steelers. Daniels agreed to a three-year, $26.5 million deal Tuesday, NFL Network reported.

Former Bears general manager Ryan Pace drafted Daniels at No. 39 overall in 2018, and he played 54 games over four seasons. The Bears moved him among both guard positions and center, and ultimately he did not impress new general manager Ryan Poles enough to re-sign him.

Click here for full story.

March 14

4 p.m.: The Bears officially cut defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. Friday, sources said they’d made the decision.

1 p.m.: As new Bears general manager Ryan Poles continues to rework the roster, the team is getting younger — and possibly better — on the defensive line.

The Bears agreed to a three-year, $40.5 million deal with former Bengals defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi in the opening hours of free agency Monday, NFL Network reported. He’ll get $26.4 million guaranteed.

Click here for full story.

March 11

5 p.m.: The Bears claimed running back Darrynton Evans, a third-round pick of the Titans just two years ago, off waivers. He has 16 career rushes for 61 yards.

3:30 p.m.: The Bears also plan to cut nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who had a disappointing 2021 and no longer fit their scheme.

11:30 a.m.: As expected, the Bears told running back Tarik Cohen they would be cutting him with an injury designation about a year-and-a-half after he tore knee ligaments returning a punt against the Falcons.

March 10

4 p.m.: In a franchise-altering move, the Bears agreed to trade edge rusher Khalil Mack, the face of the franchise, to the Chargers for a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 sixth-rounder. Ryan Poles’ first major move as the Bears’ GM signified the start of a rebuild, while Mack’s Bears career ends as a risk worth taking.

March 8

5 p.m.: The Bears agreed to bring back center Sam Mustipher, tight end Jesper Horsted and guard Lachavious Simmons on one-year deals at the league minimum. All three are exclusive-rights free agents. Players with less than three seasons of experience must accept such contract tenders.

3 p.m.: The NFL’s deadline to apply the franchise tag came and went Wednesday without the Bears making anyone an offer. That means receiver Allen Robinson will hit free agency Monday after playing last year on the tag.

Read More

New Bears general manager Ryan Poles continued to remake his offensive line Wednesday when he signed former Vikings guard Dakota Dozier to a one-year contract.

Dozier, who turns 31 in April, is considered a depth piece. He started 16 games in 2020, all at left guard. He appeared in six games, starting none, last season. In a scary incident last year, Dozier had trouble breathing, went to the emergency room with COVID-19 pneumonia and remained in the hospital for three days.

In 2019, he started four times, with at least one at center and each guard positions.

In 2014, the Jets drafted Dozier, who’d been a tackle at Furman, in the fourth round. He spent his first four years with the team, starting seven games and appearing in 31 more.

Dozier joins another former NFC North rival on the Bears’ interior offensive line — Lucas Patrick figures to start at center after spending the past five seasons with the Packers.

Also Wednesday, safety Deon Bush agreed to join the Chiefs on a one-year deal. A fourth-round pick from Miami in 2016, Bush started 13 games over six seasons with the Bears. He played 44 percent of the Bears’ defensive snaps last season and had a career-high two interceptions, 40 tackles, five passes defended and four starts.

Despite DeAndre Houston-Carson re-signing with the team Sunday, the Bears need a starting safety to play opposite Eddie Jackson. Tashaun Gipson, who filled that role the last two seasons, is a free agent.

Read More

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jonathan Toews didn’t hold back any thoughts Wednesday while discussing his and the Blackhawks’ futures.

It’s impossible to paint Toews’ current mindset into any one corner or direction, because he admits he doesn’t even know exactly what the best course of action is. But it is clear Toews’ future on the Hawks has entered uncharted seas of uncertainty.

“For the longest time, the thought never entered my mind to leave Chicago,” Toews said. “In this case, you can’t help but picture yourself and what it’d be like to play for another team and what that experience would bring. That pops into your mind.

“But Chicago’s my home. I love the Blackhawks. I love the organization. It has been my family for a long time. And I’m not putting the cart before the horse or getting ahead of myself in any way.”

Entering March, Toews said he didn’t know yet what general manager Kyle Davidson’s rebuild declaration meant. A few weeks later, the trades of Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Carpenter and particularly Brandon Hagel have shown Toews that Davidson’s definition of rebuilding is a lot truer to the conventional definition than Stan Bowman’s definition was.

And as Toews’ 1,000th NHL game (March 31 at Florida) and 34th birthday (April 29, the date of the Hawks’ season finale at Buffalo) simultaneously near, that knows a true rebuild doesn’t align so well with his late-career trajectory.

“It has become pretty clear the direction we’re heading in as a franchise,” he said. “And I’m not going to lie, it was disheartening to see a couple of your really good friends go, regardless of what’s to come in the future.

“There’s a lot of challenges that these guys have grown through as a group, and when you cultivate that chemistry, friendship and connection with your teammates, you want to keep building off of it. So it’s definitely a little disheartening.”

Toews did credit Davidson for upholding his promise to keep him and Patrick Kane in the loop with his decisions, something that previously caused strife with Bowman.

“Kyle is sincere,” he said. “He has obviously had some tough decisions to make already. [I’m] looking forward to just being in touch with him on his thought process and what the near future looks like, at least this summer. At the end of the day, [I want to] hear what he thinks about my game. It’s never easy [but] it’s always good to hear some honest thoughts from his vantage point.”

Toews’ conflicting emotions foreshadow a difficult stretch ahead for him, one that’ll be especially difficult for the next month as he juggles his in-season captain duties while also trying to figure out what he personally wants moving forward.

He’s still consumed by unwavering belief in himself and the team. He insisted earlier this month he still hasn’t “played my best hockey in my career,” and he said Tuesday the Hawks — who entered the day with 22 wins in 63 games this season — are “never far off if we show up and have that work ethic and that consistency.”

The latter opinion certainly isn’t shared by management or any objective pundits around the hockey world, and the former likely isn’t, either. Thinking through his fate might require first taking off the rose-tinted glasses, and doing that might be challenging and disheartening in itself.

And then there’s the issue of, if he decides he does want to play for another team, which team that’d be. His $10.5 million cap hit for next season wouldn’t be simple for any team to fit in, and that combined with Toews’ health issues and slowing production will diminish the list of theoretical suitors.

But for now, the captain is determined to get through the season smoothly, without his uncertainty becoming a distraction.

“There are a lot of situations where you want to take the shortcut, take the easy way out and say, ‘Ah, there’s no point in doing it right or doing the hard thing,'” he said. “We’re all focusing on what are the hard things, what are the sacrifices, what are the commitments we have to make? Regardless of the end result this year, we have to commit to doing that.”

Interim coach Derek King isn’t concerned, either, that that could happen.

“It’s a challenge for some of these guys, especially [Patrick Kane] and even looking at [Alex DeBrincat]…to stay up-[beat],” King said. “But it’s their job. They’re professionals and I have no worries about them not doing their job and [not] helping these kids along and teaching them.

“I’m not even thinking the other way that these guys won’t be able to do it. They will do it, because that’s the type of people they are.”

Read More

MESA, Ariz. – New Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is scheduled to make his spring training debut on Friday, when the Cubs play the Rockies at Sloan Park.

Cubs manager David Ross made the announcement Wednesday, adding that Suzuki will start in right field.

“He looks really good,” Ross said earlier this week. “I think the main thing is, you don’t have access and have live pitching and real reps [in the offseason]. You hit in the cage, he’s looked in great shape, worked out really hard. I think he just likes to hit a lot, it’s just his personality.”

Friday will mark a week from Suzuki’s arrival in Cubs camp, after he signed a five-year, $85 million contract. Paired with the posting fee the Cubs owe to Suzuki’s Japanese club, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, his deal was the fifth-largest financial commitment in Cubs history.

“He’s a power hitter who makes really good swing decisions and doesn’t swing and miss a lot,” Hoyer said during Suzuki’s introductory press conference last week. “So, that’s a really good place to start. He also plays really good defense in right field, with a strong arm. He’s a good base runner.”

Suzuki jumped into live batting practice from Day 1, even as the Cubs made it clear that they wouldn’t rush him.

“The live BPs, it looks like his timing’s getting ready, getting in these drills,” Ross said Tuesday. “We’re ready to see some action here shortly.”

Read More

Opera companies like to open their seasons with sure things–big-name singers and proven masterpieces.

But New York’s Metropolitan Opera threw caution to the wind and launched its 2021-22 line-up with a work that had been performed just once before, in 2019–Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones”–and it turned out to be a sensation.

“That was another moment of disbelief,” Blanchard said of the Met’s decision. “How is this happening? What is going on here?”

Lyric Opera of Chicago seems to be on track to generate much the same buzz when it presents the opera March 24-April 8. Because ticket sales were already soaring as early as December, the company proactively added a sixth performance to the run.

Why has this new work captured the public’s imagination while some contemporary operas can be a hard sell? For starters, it helps to have a jazz luminary as its composer, someone that Lyric’s top leader calls “one of the legendary musical artists of our time.”

Second, it has the distinction of being the first opera by a Black composer to be performed at the Met and it will be the second at Lyric Opera after a production of Anthony Davis’ “Amistad” in 1997.

But perhaps most important is simply the musical and dramatic impact of the work itself. “It really is a tremendously spellbinding experience,” said Anthony Freud, Lyric Opera’s president, general director and CEO. “So, I’m thrilled that it has become as popular as it has, but I’m not surprised.”

The opera is based on Charles Blow’s best-selling memoir of same title. It tells of the New York Times columnist’s harrowing childhood, marked by poverty and abuse, and how he had to come to terms with his past to have a chance at a future.

“Not only is it a Black story,” said baritone Will Liverman, “it’s also a story that really isn’t talked about a lot. Abuse is something that happens to a lot of people and folks are afraid to talk about it, and this opens the door to have these conversations.”

Liverman, who took part in the Ryan Opera Center, Lyric’s training arm, in 2012-15, is returning to the company to star as Charles, reprising the central role that he also sang in the Metropolitan Opera’s production.

“It was a special time,” Liverman said. “It was a nervous time with COVID. But, overall, it is a memory that will stay with me for a long, long time–to be part of that run that was historic on so many levels.”

Blanchard had never considered writing an opera. But when officials at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis considered producing a jazz opera, they consulted Gene Dobbs Bradford, then head of Jazz St. Louis. He recalled a conversation in which Blanchard discussed his father’s love of opera, and Bradford recommended the trumpeter as a possible composer.

The company’s artistic director James Robinson met with the jazz musician in New York and put the idea to him. “I leaned across the table to smell his breath,” Blanchard said. “I was like, ‘Do you have the right person?’ And we just kind of proceeded from there.”

The multi-Grammy Award winning Blanchard has written an array of jazz works and has been nominated for two Academy Awards for his film scores (“Da 5 Bloods,” “BlacKkKlansman”), but he called moving into the realm of opera a “huge leap” because of the need to write for voice, something he had not done before.

Blanchard’s first opera, “Champion,” debuted in 2013, and based on its success, Opera Theatre St. Louis asked him to do a second. The idea to adapt Blow’s memoir came from the composer’s wife and agent, Robin Burgess, who read it and was moved by it.

To produce the libretto, the two approached Kasi Lemmons, a friend of Blanchard who has served as the director and screenwriter for such films as “Eve’s Bayou” and “Harriet.” She had a “secret love” of opera and even put writing a libretto on her bucket list.

But a libretto is very different than a screenplay. She had a two-hour lunch with Robinson, who is serving as co-director of Lyric’s production. He gave her some pointers and spoke of what he called the “freedom of opera.”

The first time she heard a performance of the opera’s first aria featuring Blanchard’s music fused with her words, she burst into tears. “I’m almost indescribably proud of this opera and what Terence was able to accomplish,” she said. “It’s just amazing.”

Although Opera Theatre of St. Louis originally wanted a jazz opera, what he has produced in his first two works in the form far transcend the jazz realm. He melds the sounds of that style and his immersion in the music of the Black church as a child with his love of classical music and opera.

“While there is a jazz quartet in each one of them, that is not the main focal point,” Blanchard said. “For me, I’m trying to do what all the great opera composers have done in the past. They tried to take all the folklore from their communities and draw upon it to tell stories, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Many new operas receive a burst of attention around their premieres but are quickly forgotten. But Liverman is confident that plight is not going to befall “Fire.”

“There is just so much about this piece,” LIverman said, “that makes it our next great American opera.”

Read More

Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will be the new voices of “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon, the company announced Wednesday.

The duo’s move to the e-commerce and streaming service giant, which obtained exclusive rights for Thursday night games in the latest league media deal beginning in 2022, had been in the works for some time.

Herbstreit, ESPN’s top college football analyst, will serve as the color commentator on the broadcast while remaining in his current role, which includes “College GameDay.” ESPN and Herbstreit announced a multi-year extension Wednesday.

Mike Tirico is expected to take over “Sunday Night Football” play-by-play duties alongside Cris Collinsworth on NBC. Tirico had already filled in for Michaels in a handful of games over the past few seasons.

Michaels called the NFL in spurts until 1986, when he became the play-by-play announcer for ABC’s Monday Night Football, a position he held for 20 years. In 2006, he and John Madden moved over to NBC for “Sunday Night Football.” He’s called 11 Super Bowls on television, a record he shares with Pat Summerall.

Fred Gaudelli, the longtime “Sunday Night Football” producer, will join Amazon as the executive producer of “Thursday Night Football” as part of a collaboration with NBC Sports.

While the Michaels-Collinsworth tandem didn’t survive NFL media’s own wild offseason, the Joe Buck-Troy Aikman pairing remained intact going from Fox to ESPN for Monday Night Football. Michaels’ contract is in the same range as the $60 million-$75 million deal (over five years) Buck signed with ESPN, and Herbstreit’s contract is on par with that of Aikman ($18 million per year), according to the New York Post.

Read more at usatoday.com

Read More