Manna K. Jones in Union Avenue Opera’s production of Josephine on July 23, 2025.
This summer, the Union Avenue Opera company had the distinct pleasure of hosting New York-based opera singer (and trap enthusiast) Manna K. Jones. NYC may be “the place to live and perform” for opera singers, but St. Louis has plenty to offer besides fried pasta and flat pizza. It has one of the most diverse and vibrant theater scenes in the Midwest; it’s also the perfect venue for Josephine, a monodrama based on the life of St. Louis-born entertainer, businesswoman, and civil rights leader Josephine Baker. Ms. Jones played the title character in Union Avenue’s summer production, and it quickly became one of her all-time favorites. To Ms. Jones, Josephine is “more than just a role model. I feel like she’s a part of myself… like we’re the same kind of person, just living in different times.” Ms. Jones and I spent an afternoon reflecting on the performance, the legacy of Josephine Baker, and the state of opera and musical theater today.
Ms. Jones’s Manifesto
Manna K. Jones was born in Columbus, OH and grew up in Huntsville, AL. She moved to New York 13 years ago to pursue a career as an opera singer. Jones always had an interest in music; she saw herself as “a conduit for human emotion and experience, even when magnified in a melodramatic way.” Opera is one of the best ways to tell stories through music, and it’s absolutely dripping with melodrama and scandal. Opera isn’t her first or only love, however. Jones loves to blast trap and rap along with all of the words—to her, it’s just another form of musical storytelling. Her crystalline soprano voice has been featured on a rap track, and she daydreams about recording her own rap/opera crossover album someday. First she’ll need to complete her Manifesto, a classical visual album supported by a Bronx Arts Council grant. Taking cues from Beyonce’s Lemonade, the project features famous opera arias paired with original music videos.
The Magic and Mystery Josephine Baker
Even as a child, Jones was inspired by Josephine Baker. She was the Beyonce of her time—a powerful, beautiful Black woman with a one-of-a-kind aesthetic; a savvy businesswoman and brilliant artist; and a target of endless speculation and rumor-mongering. Baker “brought us magic” and “turned her pain into inspiration…through the cacophony of her experience, her humanness came through.”
Baker is most famous for her dance routines—often risqué, sometimes involving bananas and sometimes no clothing at all. But Jones finds it reductive to call Baker a “dancer”; she was a Jazz Age icon who also incorporated blues, vaudeville, and chanson into her act. She transformed herself from “exotic dancer” to world-class entertainer, performing for presidents and kings—so long as the audience was not segregated.
To prepare for the role, Jones read, watched, and listened to dozens of interviews with Baker. These interviews, along with Baker’s own memoir and the recollections of her son, Jean-Claude, are the foundation of Josephine. Most of the play’s libretto consists of direct quotes from Ms. Baker. Jones knew Baker’s singing voice well, but she had never before heard her speaking voice (which is a few registers lower than Jones’s own). It had “a musical cadence that drew people in.” Throughout these interviews, Baker gave “a great education in being a famous Black woman in the first half of the 20th century.”
The people in Baker’s orbit were dazzled by her glamor and beauty, but she was not without her dark side. Baker experienced horrific trauma as a young child in St. Louis, where she witnessed one of the worst race riots in US history. The event left at least 100 people dead and left thousands without homes. Years later, Baker tried to heal the wounds of racial resentment with her “Rainbow Tribe,” a family of adopted children from across the world. But Baker’s instincts were not always motherly, and her intentions were not always pure. She believed that her children had “symbolic value” to the world, so she built a glass-walled room in her mansion for them. Guests were encouraged to watch the children through the glass, as if they were an exhibit at a zoo.
Jones acknowledges that Baker was complex and flawed. That’s precisely what makes her a compelling subject for opera. Union Avenue is only the sixth company to stage Josephine (which debuted in 2019), and Jones hopes her performance will “activate” the work. She praised the house band and the costume designer, Teresa Doggett, who “set a new bar” for the piece. Jones did look stunning in her feathered dressing gown and sequined evening dress, and Union Avenue’s nimble players provided the perfect accompaniment for her vocal flights of fancy.
The Allure and the Challenges of Opera
If COVID couldn’t kill Broadway, nothing will. Musical theater is alive and kicking; even Hollywood movies like Beetlejuice and Back to the Future have been rewritten for the stage. Opera, however, is another story. It’s thought of as old-fashioned, intellectually demanding, and unfriendly to newcomers. Jones hopes she can correct this misconception. As she puts it, “opera can look a lot of different ways and be told in many ways.” To Jones, there’s no love story like a tragic opera—like La Bohème or Pagliacci. She’s glad that the industry has taken more steps to bring in mainstream audiences—for example, companies like Union Avenue provide supertitles of the libretto, allowing the audiences to follow along. Jones recalled an earlier performance of Suor Angelica, which was performed in Italian with no supertitles. “I thought ‘good luck’ [to the audience]!” Hopefully Jones’s passionate performance got the meaning across.
Jones acknowledges that opera can be slow to adapt: “The industry can be too soft, too gradual to bring in new audiences or make the work more approachable.” Still, there’s nothing like the grandeur of opera, and there’s a reason why this artform has thrived for centuries. Jones wants her audience to feel and understand the emotions of her characters: “Even if it’s magnified in a melodramatic way, it’s still a human experience.” It’s a cathartic experience that she wants to share with the world.
St. Louis Connections
St. Louis has changed in the century since Josephine Baker became a global icon. It’s no longer a giant of culture or industry, but it’s not without its pleasures. Jones fondly recalled her first trip to the Arch, which took place during a high school show choir competition. She returned years later to see a friend perform at Union Avenue; now she’s the star of their second summer feature. Jones was busy rehearsing, promoting her work, and answering questions from journalists like me. Still, she had time to see Frozen at the Muny (which she loved). It would be a dream to perform at the Muny or the Fox Theater, but Union Avenue holds a special place in her heart. She hailed the “small and mighty, artist-centric” company, which she found to be a welcoming environment that supports emerging singers. Jones holds the entire St. Louis theater scene in high regard, and she hopes to return once more (perhaps in the guise of our local legend, Josephine Baker). | Rob Von Nordheim
