The Broadway-bound production of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, which played a record-breaking, sold out engagement at the American Repertory Theater, will play a 26-week limited run at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street, between 8th Avenue and Broadway).
The production will begin previews on Saturday, December 17th, 2011 and open on Thursday, January 12th, 2012. Tickets are now on sale at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.
Here are some snippets of reviews:
“A don’t miss theater event. Porgy is a streamlined, intimate, musically ravishing show. This Porgy is faithful to what counts most – Gershwin’s lush, bluesy, irreplaceable score. That makes it a revival to hail.”
– Time
“A vibrant, stunning production! This is a ‘Porgy and Bess’ with spirit and heart. And in Audra McDonald, this production boasts a Bess for the ages.”
– The Boston Globe
“A watershed work. Audra McDonald transforms a classic character forever. Her scarred, shapely Bess is a heartbreaking mélange of audacity and trepidation, a performance as complete and complex as any I’ve seen years. She made me understand ‘Porgy and Bess’ in a way I hadn’t before.”
– The New York Times
“Nothing less than spectacular! The characters are now genuine, emotional, and, most significantly, real.”
– The Colby Echo
“A great achievement that left me breathless…a quiet and true lullaby of feeling.”
– The New Yorker
The Gershwins' Pory and Bess, with a score by George Gershwin, a book by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, has been adapted by Pulitzer prize-winning writer Suzan-Lori Parks, and two-time Obie winner Diedre L. Murray. A.R.T.'s Artistic Director, Diane Paulus, directs. The Broadway production will star Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sporting Life, reprising their A.R.T. roles.
The creative team also includes choreographer Ronald K. Brown, set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer ESosa, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind and sound designer Acme Sound Partners.
Porgy and Bess is the classic American tale is set in the 1930s in Catfish Row, a neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. Bess, beautiful and troubled, turns to Porgy, the crippled beggar, in search of safety after her possessive lover Crown commits murder. As Porgy and Bess’s love grows, their future is threatened by Crown and the conniving Sporting Life. This heartbreaking love story boasts some of the most famous and beloved works from the Great American Songbook, including: “Summertime,” “Bess, You Is My Woman,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So" and “I Loves You, Porgy.”
The show is based on DuBose Heyward's novel “Porgy” and the play of the same name, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward. All three works deal with African American life in the fictitious Catfish Row (based on the real-life Rainbow Row) in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s. George Gershwin worked on Porgy and Bess in Charleston, SC and drew inspiration from the James Island Gullah community, which he felt had preserved some African musical traditions. The music itself reflects his New York jazz roots, but also draws on southern black traditions. Gershwin modeled the pieces after each type of folk song which the composer knew about; jubilees, blues, praying songs, street cries, work songs, and spirituals are blended with traditional arias and recitatives.
The production will begin previews on Saturday, December 17th, 2011 and open on Thursday, January 12th, 2012. Tickets are now on sale at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.
Here are some snippets of reviews:
“A don’t miss theater event. Porgy is a streamlined, intimate, musically ravishing show. This Porgy is faithful to what counts most – Gershwin’s lush, bluesy, irreplaceable score. That makes it a revival to hail.”
– Time
“A vibrant, stunning production! This is a ‘Porgy and Bess’ with spirit and heart. And in Audra McDonald, this production boasts a Bess for the ages.”
– The Boston Globe
“A watershed work. Audra McDonald transforms a classic character forever. Her scarred, shapely Bess is a heartbreaking mélange of audacity and trepidation, a performance as complete and complex as any I’ve seen years. She made me understand ‘Porgy and Bess’ in a way I hadn’t before.”
– The New York Times
“Nothing less than spectacular! The characters are now genuine, emotional, and, most significantly, real.”
– The Colby Echo
“A great achievement that left me breathless…a quiet and true lullaby of feeling.”
– The New Yorker
The Gershwins' Pory and Bess, with a score by George Gershwin, a book by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, has been adapted by Pulitzer prize-winning writer Suzan-Lori Parks, and two-time Obie winner Diedre L. Murray. A.R.T.'s Artistic Director, Diane Paulus, directs. The Broadway production will star Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sporting Life, reprising their A.R.T. roles.
The creative team also includes choreographer Ronald K. Brown, set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer ESosa, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind and sound designer Acme Sound Partners.
Porgy and Bess is the classic American tale is set in the 1930s in Catfish Row, a neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. Bess, beautiful and troubled, turns to Porgy, the crippled beggar, in search of safety after her possessive lover Crown commits murder. As Porgy and Bess’s love grows, their future is threatened by Crown and the conniving Sporting Life. This heartbreaking love story boasts some of the most famous and beloved works from the Great American Songbook, including: “Summertime,” “Bess, You Is My Woman,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So" and “I Loves You, Porgy.”
The show is based on DuBose Heyward's novel “Porgy” and the play of the same name, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward. All three works deal with African American life in the fictitious Catfish Row (based on the real-life Rainbow Row) in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s. George Gershwin worked on Porgy and Bess in Charleston, SC and drew inspiration from the James Island Gullah community, which he felt had preserved some African musical traditions. The music itself reflects his New York jazz roots, but also draws on southern black traditions. Gershwin modeled the pieces after each type of folk song which the composer knew about; jubilees, blues, praying songs, street cries, work songs, and spirituals are blended with traditional arias and recitatives.
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