The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 1990, in a new production directed by James Robinson in his company debut. Starring Eric Owens and Angel Blue and conducted by David Robertson. Porgy and Bess comes to the big screen at The Ridgefield Playhouse in a LIVE simulcast on Saturday, February 1st at 12:55pm, part of the Classical Series, underwritten by Jeanne Cook, Liz & Steven Goldstone, and Sabina & Walter Slavin with support from Whistle Stop Bakery.
America's "folk opera," as the 1935 creators described it, tells the story of disabled beggar Porgy, sung by Eric Owens, and his love for the drug-addicted Bess, portrayed by Angel Blue. David Robertson conducts a stellar cast that also includes Donovan Singletary as fisherman Jake, Golda Schultz as his wife Clara, Latonia Moore as the bereaved widow Serena, Frederick Ballentine as drug dealer Sportin' Life, Alfred Walker as the brutal stevedore Crown, and Denyce Graves as Maria, town matriarch and operator of the local cook-shop. Infused with the timeless melodies of the much-loved classics "Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now," "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin," and "My Man's Gone Now," the new co-production with English National Opera and Dutch National Opera was hailed as a triumph at its premiere in London earlier this year.
The Metropolitan Opera is a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world. The Ridgefield Playhouse offers free tickets to The Metropolitan Opera in HD series to students 18 and younger as a way for parents to introduce their children to the arts. FREE tickets are also available to students 18 and younger for live and encore HD screenings of The Bolshoi Ballet and National Theatre of London.
For tickets ($25 | Members & Seniors $20 | Students $15 | FREE for students 18 and under) call or visit the box office, 203-438-5795 or go online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org.
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