Doubling down on the success of his traveling Sunday Service shows, Kanye West is now taking his operas on the road as well. Mary, the follow-up to November’s Nebuchadnezzar, is on its way to New York City December 22 at Lincoln Center‘s David Geffen Hall. The sophomore effort, which debuted earlier this month, at Miami Marine Stadium during Art Basel, is said to be a retelling of the birth of Jesus — i.e., a Nativity play. It was directed by Vanessa Beecroft.
Kanye’s first opera, Nebuchadnezzar, premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in November and interpreted the Old Testament story of Hebrew prophets Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who interpreted the dreams of a ruler inflicted with madness in the Book of Daniel. Sheck Wes starred as the titular king while Kanye read from a bible offstage. Mary, which received less media attention than its predecessor in its initial run, featured Kanye reading from the Book of Matthew while painted completely silver for some reason.
The mercurial — sorry — artist recently considered quitting rap entirely to focus on religious music, but apparently decided to stick to his guns for at least one more project, October’s Jesus Is King album. However, his conversion appeared to be no passing fancy — he reportedly asked collaborators to refrain from sex during the recording of the album and is planning another tour, this one with megapastor Joel Osteen.
