PORGY & BESS to Launch National Tour in Fall 2013!

Producers of The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS have just announced plans for a national tour of the critically-acclaimed Broadway revival, set to launch in the Fall of 2013. For Booking Inquiries, please contact MerEdith Blair at The Booking Group at (212) 869-9280. Casting for the tour will be announced at a later date.

The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS, which was originally announced as a limited run, has already been extended through September 30, 2012, and celebrated its 100th Broadway performance on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 2:00pm. The production officially opened on January 12, 2012 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street). Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.comor by calling 877-250-2929.

The Broadway cast of The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS is led by four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald (Ragtime, "Private Practice") as Bess, Drama Desk nominee Norm Lewis (Les Misérables, Sondheim on Sondheim) as Porgy and two-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier (Race, "In Living Color") as Sporting Life. The cast also includes Phillip Boykin as Crown, Nikki Renée Daniels as Clara, Joshua Henry as Jake, Christopher Innvar as Detective, Bryonha Marie Parham as Serena and NaTasha Yvette Williams as Mariah, as well as Sumayya Ali, Allison Blackwell, Roosevelt André Credit, Trevon Davis, Joseph Dellger, Wilkie Ferguson III, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Gavin Gregory, Heather Hill, David Hughey, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Alicia Hall Moran, Cedric Neal, Phumzile Sojola, Nathaniel Stampley, Julius Thomas III, J.D. Webster and Lisa Nicole Wilkerson.

The classic story by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorthy Heyward and Ira Gershwin is set in Charleston's fabled Catfish Row, where the beautiful Bess struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the crippled but courageous Porgy. Threatened by her formidable former lover Crown, and the seductive enticements of the colorful troublemaker Sporting Life, Porgy and Bess' relationship evolves into a deep romance that triumphs as one of theater's most exhilarating love stories.

Following its sold-out world premiere engagement at Boston's American Repertory Theater, one of Broadway's most accomplished creative teams, led by Tony-nominated director Diane Paulus (Hair), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog), and two-time Obie Award-winning composer Diedre L. Murray (Running Man), brings George and Ira Gershwin's legendary masterwork to the Broadway stage for the first time in more than 35 years.

The creative team also includes set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer ESosa, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind, sound designer ACME Sound Partners and choreographer Ronald K. Brown.

The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS is produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Rebecca Gold, Howard Kagan, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Brunish Trinchero/Lucio Simons TBC, Joseph and Matthew Deitch, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Terry Schnuck, Freitag Productions/Koenigsberg Filerman, The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Ken Mahoney, Judith Resnick, Tulchin/Bartner/ATG, Paper Boy Productions, Alden Badway, Broadway Across America, Christopher Hart, Irene Gandy and Will Trice.

Visit www.porgyandbessonbroadway.com for more information.