Fire Shut Up in My Bones

Charles is driving down a Louisiana road, with gun in hand, to murder his cousin Chester. Destiny entices him to go back to his childhood. The scene is now Charles's childhood. He is known as Char'es Baby. He craves attention from his stressed mother, Billie.

Billie works in a chicken factory and Charles spends time at his Uncle Paul's farm. Spinner, Billie's husband, is a womanizing spendthrift. When Billie discovers his infidelity she threatens him with a gun and tosses him out. She decides to start her life over again and move to Uncle Paul's Farm (aria: "Leave It in Road"). While Billie and Charles's brothers go to collect the spoils of an overturned meat truck, Charles dreams of a better life, collecting things from a junkyard.

At Thanksgiving, his cousin Chester comes to visit. He steals from a candy store with Charles under the pretext of showing Charles how to be a man. As Billie sees Chester and Charles are getting on well, she says both of them can sleep in the same room together. Chester molests Charles. Charles feels extreme shame and feels unable to tell anybody what happened.

Charles is haunted by images of male figures at night.

In an attempt to put his shame and anger at rest, Charles is baptized in the Baptist Church. This fails and Charles tries to confide his feelings to his brothers but they rebuff him. He flees to his abandoned house in the woods, where a mysterious voice sings to him. (aria: "Bend Don't Break"). He meets a girl named Evelyn and they have sex. His brothers proclaim that this has solved problems. Charles decides to go north and strike out on his own (aria: "Peculiar Grace") but he gets a full scholarship to the nearby Grambling State University which his mother persuades him to accept. Billie decides to start taking classes again and reflects on all she has sacrificed to support her sons.

The act opens with a step dance. At Grambling, Charles is pledging the fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. He is hazed by the brothers, but is accepted when he does not show pain during this ordeal. At a fraternity party, Charles meets Greta and they begin an affair. Charles reveals his secret to Greta, and Greta tells him that she is in love with another boy and that she cannot live a double life. Charles is devastated, and calls his mother. She tells him that Chester has come to visit, and Charles threatens him over the phone.

The scene changes to that at the beginning of the opera. Charles's younger self appears to tell him to forget his pain. Charles arrives at his house and finds that Chester has fled. He decides to finally reveal to his mother what happened.[19]

Regarding the composition, critics were divided on Blanchard's influences. Giovanni Russonello and Seth Colter Walls of the New York Times wrote that the music is generally based on Italian opera, but Blanchard's jazz influence is also audible.[21] Describing Blanchard's music, Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune disagreed with other critics who emphasize Blanchard's jazz influence, saying 'Rather, under the baton of Daniela Candillari, you hear Blanchard’s driving confidence in operatic mode, both harmonic and dissident, both aware of European formative precedent and sharply critical in subtle ways."[22]

Reviewing the premiere for the New York Times, Anthony Tommasini described the music variety of Blanchard's score: "Restless vocal lines shift from plaintive lyrical phrases, to sputtered outbursts, to a style that seems a jazz equivalent of Italianate arioso". Though noting that the opera tends to "melodramatic excess", Tommaisini praised the "brilliantly simple, evocative production", and singled out Julia Bullock and Davóne Tines in leading roles as "ravishing" and "terrifyingly volatile" respectively.[8]

Angel Blue received praise for her role in the 2021 Met Opera production

In reviews of the 2021 Metropolitan Opera production, critics praised the interpretation of the lead role as the adult Charles by baritone Will Liverman, who critics described as "subtle", "nuanced" and "powerful". There were, however, concerns that he was at times overwhelmed by the orchestra.[23]

In a review for Parterre Box Gabrielle Ferrari wrote "Blanchard's score is richly colored and beautifully orchestrated". With regard to the storytelling and characterization, she went on to say the score was written "mainly with a clear-eyed compassion for his characters, to whom he never condescends nor condemns".[24]

Writing for Vulture, critic Justin Davidson opined in an otherwise positive review that "in their enthusiasm, composer and conductor sometimes seem to have forgotten about the singers, who struggle to be heard over all the engaging churn". Davidson also stated that Fire Shut Up in My Bones was a conventional opera which did not "blow up the genre".[3]

Alex Ross of The New Yorker praised Angel Blue for her performance of three "inner voice" roles describing her as "soaring above the orchestra".[7]

Walter Russell III, as the younger Charles, received acclaim from the audience and critics. He was 13 years old at the time of the production.[25]

Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune praised Liverman, who retained the lead role of Charles, describing his performance as having an "aching vulnerability". In his review, Jones emphasized the "historical weight" of the opera, and called it "a voyage of considerable complexity".[22]