VIDEO: Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson Team Up for BLUE: THE FATHER

What is it like to be both a black father and a police officer in America? Kenneth Kellogg, a D.C. native who plays The Father in Blue, learns lessons from a police officer.

With music by Jeanine Tesori and a libretto by Tazewell Thompson, the story of the Washington National Opera's "Blue" is an extremely personal one for Kenneth. Having a young son himself, playing the role of a father comes naturally to him. But, to learn to play a police officer, he needed help from retired police officer Frank Riley.

Watch as Kenneth reveals why this opera is so personal for him and learns more about the issues at the heart of Blue. "Blue" - The Opera "Blue" brings audiences into the emotional epicenter of an African-American couple - a father (who is a police officer) and a mother - who lose their teenage son when he is killed by a fellow police officer.

Jeanine's signature and genre-blending style and vivid flashbacks capture the grief of a family and community navigating the turbulent waters of loss at the hands of police. Exploring race, violence, and reconciliation, Blue places timely issues at the forefront of modern opera and invites audiences to the emotional epicenter of their impact.