THE GERSHWINS' 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."
But that's exactly what makes this Porgy so powerful: It's a show about leaving Catfish Row, about making the great leap from the smothering bosom of the old South into the dark void of the twentieth century. When Porgy took his first shuddering steps into that abyss, I felt a tide behind me: An audience absolutely rapt, ravished by two hours of one of the greatest scores ever written for the American theater, wanting nothing more than to follow that crooked figure into the black. Goat or no goat, that's tragedy at its most triumphant.
In working out their approach to the celebrated folk opera, during rehearsals and an out-of-town tryout, director Diane Paulus and adaptors Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre L. Murray pretty much circled back to the original 1935 show created by George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. Aside from turning some sung sections into spoken dialogue, adding small details about the characters and incorporating a few new staging ideas, this is a traditional rendering of the lives of the poor black inhabitants of Catfish Row in Charleston, S.C.
1935 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1942 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1943 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1944 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1952 | West End |
London Revival West End |
1953 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1961 | Off-Broadway |
City Center Revival Off-Broadway |
1964 | Off-Broadway |
City Center Revival Off-Broadway |
1976 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1983 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2000 | Broadway |
New York City Opera Production Broadway |
2006 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2012 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2013 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Musical | Audra McDonald |
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Norm Lewis |
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Audra McDonald |
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Phillip Boykin |
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | 0 |
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Acme Sound Partners |
2012 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Audra McDonald |
2012 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Norm Lewis |
2012 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Revival of a Musical | 0 |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Norm Lewis |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Audra McDonald |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Phillip Boykin |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | 0 |
2012 | Theatre World Awards | Outstanding Debut Performance | Phillip Boykin |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Musical | ESosa |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Diane Paulus |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Christopher Akerlind |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Christopher Jahnke |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | William David Brohn |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Phillip Boykin |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | David Alan Grier |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Norm Lewis |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Audra McDonald |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jeffrey Richards |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jerry Frankel |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Rebecca Gold |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Howard Kagan |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Brunish Trinchero/Lucio Simons TBC |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Joseph & Matthew Deitch |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Terry Schnuck |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Freitag Productions/Koenigsberg Filerman |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Universal Pictures Stage Productions |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Ken Mahoney |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Judith Resnick |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Tulchin/Bartner/ATG |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Paper Boy Productions |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Christopher Hart |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Alden Badway |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Broadway Across America |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Irene Gandy |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Will Trice |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | American Repertory Theater |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Will Trice |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jeffrey Richards |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jerry Frankel |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Rebecca Gold |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Howard Kagan |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Brunish Trinchero/Lucio Simons TBC |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Joseph & Matthew Deitch |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Terry Schnuck |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Freitag Productions/Koenigsberg Filerman |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Universal Pictures Stage Productions |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Ken Mahoney |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Judith Resnick |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Tulchin/Bartner/ATG |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Paper Boy Productions |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Christopher Hart |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Alden Badway |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Broadway Across America |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Irene Gandy |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | American Repertory Theater |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jeffrey Richards |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Acme Sound Partners |
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