Tim\u00a0Blevins is singing on the sidewalk outside San Francisco\u2019s War Memorial Opera House. He sways slightly as his low voice swells in volume. A shopping cart crammed with his belongings is pushed off to the side, and he has a cardboard sign propped up at his feet: \u201cInquire about CDs.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Most people walk past him, heading straight into the venue. A man stops to buy one of his CDs for $5; a woman pauses to marvel at his talent. \u201cWhat a voice you have!\u201d she exclaims. \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, after the passersby have filtered through the opera house\u2019s doors, Blevins stares up at the balcony.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI used to sing in places like this, for real,\u201d he remarks, half to the camera, half to himself.<\/p>\n
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A screenshot of Tim Blevins from the documentary \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Javid Soriano<\/p>\n
A screenshot of Tim Blevins from the documentary \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Javid Soriano<\/p>\n
This is a scene from \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down,\u201d a new documentary detailing Blevins\u2019 rise to the top of the opera world and his subsequent descent into substance use and homelessness. Produced over the course of 10 years, the film tracks the singer\u2019s struggles, bouncing between\u00a0single-room occupancies<\/a>\u00a0in SoMa and the Tenderloin as he attempts to find stability.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make SFGATE a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Next week \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down\u201d is slated to screen<\/a> at the Marina Theatre and BAMPFA as part of the 2026 San Francisco International Film Festival. Blevins, as well as director Javid Soriano and producer Rob Richert, are expected to appear as guests.<\/p>\n In his prime, Tim Blevins was something of a Broadway rock star. He graduated from Juilliard, and his confident, macho style made him a sought-after opera performer. He played Crown in George Gershwin\u2019s \u201cPorgy and Bess\u201d; he sang at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.<\/p>\n A screenshot of a young Tim\u00a0Blevins onstage from the documentary \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy of Javid Soriano<\/p>\n At the same time, the singer had a rebellious streak. He drank and smoked cigarettes before taking the stage. In the documentary, Blevins\u2019 father admits to introducing him to crack cocaine when he was 16 years old. Later on, Blevins got hooked on pain medications<\/a>. As Blevins\u2019 substance use worsened, his marriage dissolved. His opera career took a nosedive, too; producers began to see him as unreliable, and his work dried up.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Blevins left New York, first heading to Southern California, where he grew up. He eventually landed on the streets of San Francisco. For money, he busked outside the opera house and in BART stations. In SoMa, Blevins earned the nickname \u201cOpera.\u201d<\/p>\n Soriano, the documentary\u2019s director, met Blevins in 2013 or 2014. (Blevins was not available for an interview in time for publication.) At the time, he was a Master of Fine Arts student at the\u00a0San Francisco Art Institute<\/a>. Soriano was walking in the Civic Center area when he spotted Blevins selling items on the sidewalk, surrounded by a small crowd. Among the other sidewalk vendors, Blevins stood out, Soriano said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou could just feel right away that he was very charismatic,\u201d the director recalled. \u201cHe had a lot of interesting things that he was selling, like opera books, Opera America magazine and Mozart sheet music.\u201d<\/p>\n A screenshot of a young Tim\u00a0Blevins from the documentary \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy of Javid Soriano<\/p>\n The pair got to talking, and Soriano agreed to film Blevins singing an aria<\/a> from \u201cThe Barber of Seville.\u201d The two men met in an alley after dark. Holding his pet rat, Bella, in his hand, Blevins began to sing. His voice cracked, and he switched to a sadder, more sentimental song, a Wagner aria called \u201cSong to the Evening Star.\u201d<\/a> He told Soriano about how he missed his children. The director was struck by the singer\u2019s double nature: quick-witted and confident in one moment, fragile and longing in the next.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cAt that point, it started to feel almost like an opera, right?\u201d Soriano said. \u201cLike he was the protagonist in his own personal opera, driven by this profound yearning for home.\u201d<\/p>\n This encounter kicked off a yearslong relationship. Soriano began following Blevins around, sometimes with his camera, sometimes without. Occasionally, Soriano helped move Blevins\u2019 shopping carts around. Over the years, the director earned his subject\u2019s trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s because of that trust that \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down\u201d gives such an intimate picture of Blevins\u2019 life. Soriano\u2019s camera tracks Blevins openly discussing drug use, stumbling through an awkward Father\u2019s Day phone call and leaving a San Francisco jail.<\/p>\n \u201cI could\u2019ve chosen my family and my children,\u201d Blevins says in a voiceover. \u201cI had that chance more than once. And I didn\u2019t choose it. For some odd reason, I\u2019ve given up everything good for this.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A screenshot of Tim Blevins from the documentary \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy of Javid Soriano A screenshot of Tim Blevins from the documentary \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy of Javid Soriano A screenshot of Tim Blevins from the documentary \u201cFigaro Up, Figaro Down.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy of Javid Soriano<\/p>\n \u201cThis\u201d refers to substance use. In one scene, the viewer watches\u00a0Blevins and his then-girlfriend shoot up together in a messy hotel room.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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