National Tour of PORGY AND BESS to Play Academy of Music, 2/18-23

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, announces the complete cast for the tour launch at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre this November with rehearsals having starting Monday, October 14 in New York City. The tour, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra, will begin performances Sunday, November 10 with an official opening on Wednesday, November 13. The national touring production will make its Philadelphia premiere February 18 - 23 at the Academy of Music. Single tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Joining previously announced Alicia Hall Moran as Bess and Nathaniel Stampley as Porgy will be Alvin Crawford as Crown, Kingsley Leggs as Sporting Life, Sumayya Ali as Clara, DENISHA BALLEW as Serena, Danielle Lee Greaves as Mariah, and David Hughey as Jake.

The cast also includes Dan Barnhill, Vanjah Boikai, ADRIANNA M. CLEVELAND, Roosevelt André Credit, CICILY DAINELS, Dwelvan David, Nkrumah Gatling, TAMAR GREENE, Nicole Adell Johnson, James Earl Jones II, QUENTIN OLIVER LEE, CHERYSE McLEOD LEWIS, SARITA RACHELLE LILLY, Kent Overshown, Chauncey Packer, Lindsay Roberts, Fred Rose, and SOARA-JOYE ROSS.

"Every so often a project comes along that is so astonishing that one has to drop everything and just say I'm going to do it. That's what I felt when I was asked to do The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," said Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus. "The epic sweep of the story, the immense history of the musical itself and the unforgettable Gershwin score, highlighted by 'Summertime,' 'I Got Plenty of Nothing' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So' make this unquestionably one of the greatest American masterpieces."