Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess is an opera with music by George Gershwin and libretto by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on Heyward's novel Porgy and the play of the same name that he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy. All three works deal with African American life in the fictitious Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina in the early 1930s.

Productions

Original Broadway cast

Gershwin's complete work, running over four hours, was performed privately in a concert version in Carnegie Hall, in the fall of 1935. A greatly cut version was performed on September 30, 1935 at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, and the Broadway premiere followed soon after on October 10, 1935 at the Alvin Theater in New York City. {{ref|GershwinYears1}} The Broadway run lasted a mere 124 performances. Rouben Mamoulian produced and directed and Alexander Smallens conducted.

Related Topics:
Carnegie Hall - September 30 - 1935 - Colonial Theatre - Boston - October 10 - Alvin Theater - New York City - Rouben Mamoulian - Alexander Smallens

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After the disappointing run on Broadway, a tour started on January 27, 1936 in Philadelphia and travelled to Pittsburgh and Chicago before ending in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 1936. During the Washington run, the cast—as led by Todd Duncan—protested segregation among the audience. Eventually management gave into the demands allowed for the first integrated performance at National Theatre. {{ref|congress}}

Related Topics:
January 27 - 1936 - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh - Chicago - Washington, D.C. - March 21 - National Theatre

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This original production included:

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• Todd Duncan as Porgy
• Anne Brown as Bess
• John W. Bubbles as Sportin' Life
• Warren Coleman as Crown
• Henry Davis as Robbins
• Ruby Elzy as Serena, Robbins' wife
• Abbie Mitchell as Clara
• Edward Matthews as Jake, Clara's husband
• Helen Dowdy as the Strawberry Woman
• J. Rosamond Johnson as the lawyer
• Georgette Harvey as Maria
• The Eva Jessye Choir, lead by Eva Jessye

Around 1938, the original cast reunited for a West Coast revival; the exception being that Avon Long took on the role of Sportin' Life. Long continued to reprise his role in several of the following productions.

Related Topics:
1938 - West Coast - Avon Long

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Crawford's Broadway revival

The noted director and producer Cheryl Crawford brought Porgy and Bess back to Broadway in 1942 with a drastically cut version of the opera, making it much more like the musical theater Americans were used to hearing from Gershwin. The orchestra was reduced, the cast was halved, and many recitatives were reduced to spoken dialog. {{ref|Standifer}}

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After trying out her concepts at a summer theater in Maplewood, New Jersey in September 1941, the show opened at the Majestic Theater on Broadway in January 1942.{{ref|Victor}} Duncan and Brown reprised their roles as the title characters, with Alexander Smallens again conducting. Etta Moten replaced Brown as Bess in June. This production was far more successful financially.

Related Topics:
Maplewood, New Jersey - Majestic Theater

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European premieres

On March 27, 1943, the opera had its European premiere at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen. This performance is also notable for the fact that it was put on by an all-white cast under the nose of the Nazi occupiers, who put an end to its run after 22 sold-out performances. {{ref|Standifer_1}}

Related Topics:
March 27 - 1943 - Royal Opera House - Copenhagen - Nazi

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Other all-white or mostly-white productions in Europe took place in Zurich in 1945 and 1950, and Copenhagen in 1946.

Related Topics:
Zurich - Copenhagen

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1952 production

Blevins Davis and Robert Breen produced a revival in 1952 which restored the music cut away in 1941 along with many of the recitatives put back in place but, with two condensed acts, it still was short of the full version composed by Gershwin, which had not yet been seen by the public. This tour however restored the work to its full operatic form, and Porgy and Bess was warmly received through Europe. {{ref|Standifer_2}} The London premiere took place on October 9, 1952 at the Stoll Theatre, where it remained until February 10, 1953. {{ref|Martin}}

Related Topics:
London - October 9 - 1952 - Stoll Theatre - February 10 - 1953

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Notable also was this production's original cast, with Leontyne Price as Bess, William Warfield as Porgy, and Cab Calloway as Sportin' Life. The small role of Ruby was played by a young Maya Angelou. Price and Warfield met and wed while on the tour.

Related Topics:
Leontyne Price - William Warfield - Cab Calloway - Maya Angelou

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After a small tour of Europe financed by the United States Department of State, the production came to Broadway's Ziegfeld Theatre. It went on the road again in the fall of 1954 to Latin America, the Middle East and Europe, though Price and Warfield had since left the production. This tour saw Porgy and Bess premiere at La Scala in Milan, in February of 1955. A historic yet tense premiere took place in Moscow in December 1955, the first time an American theater group had been to the Soviet capital since the Bolshevik Revolution. Author Truman Capote travelled with the cast and crew, writing an account of this event in his book 'The Muses Are Heard: An Account.

Related Topics:
United States Department of State - Ziegfeld Theatre - La Scala - Milan - Moscow - Soviet - Bolshevik Revolution - Truman Capote

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Houston Grand's 1976 production

During the 1960s and early 1970s, Porgy and Bess mostly languished on the shelves, a victim of its perceived condescending racism in a racially-charged time. Though new productions took place in 1961 and 1964 along with a Vienna Volksoper premiere in 1965, these did little to change most Americans' opinions of the work.

Related Topics:
1961 - 1964 - Vienna Volksoper

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The Houston Grand Opera production which opened on September 25, 1976 helped to turn the tide. For the first time, an American opera company had tackled the opera, not a Broadway production company. This production was the first performance which included the original uncut full score by Gershwin, allowing the public to take in the operatic whole as first envisioned by the composer. In this light, it became clear that Porgy and Bess was indeed an opera, not a serious piece of musical theatre. This production won the Houston Grand a Tony Award—the only opera ever to receive one—and a Grammy Award.

Related Topics:
Houston Grand Opera - September 25 - 1976 - Tony Award - Grammy Award

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Subsequent productions

Another Broadway production was staged in 1983. After toying with the idea of staging the opera since the 1930s, the Metropolitan Opera staged the work 1985, opening on February 6. England's Glyndebourne Festival tackled the work with a 1988 production. The centennial celebration of the Gershwin brothers from 1996–1998 included a new production as well. The constant revival of the opera and inclusion of old and new cast members allowed for the forming of traditions that were passed down from the experience cast members.

Related Topics:
1983 - Metropolitan Opera - 1985 - February 6 - Glyndebourne Festival - 1988 - 1996 - 1998

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