Press Play with Madeleine Brand
'Sing for Your Life'
Ryan Speedo Green grew up in a trailer park in Southeastern Virginia. His dad was gone. His mom often beat him and his brother. When he was 12, Green spent time in a juvenile detention center for threatening his mother with a knife. His childhood did not set him up for much of a future, but Green grew up to become a gifted opera singer.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readRyan Speedo Green grew up in a trailer park in Southeastern Virginia. His dad was gone. His mom often beat him and his brother. When he was 12, Green spent time in a juvenile detention center for threatening his mother with a knife. His childhood did not set him up for much of a future, but Green grew up to become a gifted opera singer. When he was 24 years old, he beat out 1200 other singers in a national opera competition. Now, he is a star at the Met, one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world. The story of Green’s journey from trailer park to opera house is the topic of a new book by Daniel Bergner, Sing for Your Life.
